


Duality

by cynigal



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Azula is the best, Escape, Fire Nation (Avatar), Fire Nation Best Nation, Fire Nation Royal Family, How is Ty Lee so happy and how can I be like her, Mai is apathetically amazing, Post-War, Recovery, Redemption, Sad but also happy but could be a bittersweet ending?, Slow Burn, Zuko is a goof, a few explicit F/F moments, mental institute
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2019-05-17 01:27:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 33
Words: 96,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14822609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cynigal/pseuds/cynigal
Summary: Tossed away and forgotten in the mental institution after the war, Azula struggles to determine what she wants and what it means to recover. At first the story will focus primarily on Azula and Ty Lee, but the complicated bonds between the whole Fire Nation gang will be explored.





	1. Chapter 1

 

Four years. It had been four years since she'd last seen the princess of the Fire Nation. Ty Lee hadn't spoken to her since that fateful day at the Boiling Rock when she had done one of the hardest things she'd ever had to do: defend one friend at the cost of another.

  
As hard as it was for some people to believe, she really did care for Azula. She loved her as any friend would. And the way their last summer together progressed, Ty Lee guessed it turned into the beginnings of a different kind of love. For herself at least. Despite all of the trials the two of them went through together, they shared a bond throughout most of their lives. Meeting in early childhood, attending the same school, playing games at the palace, they practically grew up together. And when Azula came calling after a few months' absence at the circus to demand that Ty Lee join her elite team, she was admittedly a bit excited. Well, after the initial terror of tottering above a flaming safety net.

  
She still was wary of the princess and the cruelty that always lurked beneath the calm exterior. And part of her knew that Azula's treatment of both herself and Mai was completely dark in terms of how friends should act. She was a princess, so demands and orders were expected. But sometimes she was downright mean, flaming safety net as one example. Not to mention the frequent insults at whatever flaws Azula found annoying at any given moment.

  
Even with the princess's abrasive personality, the months of constantly being together on the road brought Ty Lee and Azula close. Closer than they'd been as children. Closer than Ty Lee ever thought they would be. Mai was uninterested in anything the two of them did together. She was mainly still pining over Zuko from a distance, much to Azula's annoyance. Ty Lee did what she could to soothe Azula's moods, but the one thing that constantly calmed her was battle. In retrospect, this was another somewhat disconcerting characteristic.

  
Engaging the members of Team Avatar had been exhilarating and seeing the princess in action using her brilliant tactical mind and even more powerful bending was stunning. Her abilities really were no joke. Fighting on the same side as Azula filled Ty Lee with a sense of pride and confidence. And with their successes on the battlefield came progression in their relationship, if it could be called that. Ty Lee remembered their first stolen kisses in the tent while Mai was sleeping, gazing at Azula on the occasions they had to bathe in chilly streams, and later on, the rare moments at the end of the day when the princess allowed Ty Lee to remove her Kyoshi warrior make up or brush her soft black hair.

  
It was only after Azula's brilliant conquest of Ba Sing Se that they took a significant step together, Ty Lee remembered it well. She'd never seen Azula happy before, but her attitude following their successful coup was radiant. Her aura burned brighter than it ever had and while Mai and Zuko reunited on the ship taking the four of them back home, the two girls had taken full advantage of the privacy in Azula's own cabin. Mai returned later to find them sleeping in the same bed together, totally and completely unclothed. If she even noticed, the girl never made one comment about it to either of them.

  
Before Ty Lee could gently urge Azula to talk about what they might become, the unfortunate events of late that summer unfurled and Ty Lee knew she wouldn't be getting the princess back anytime soon. If at all. If she ever had her to begin with? It was so complicated.

  
Thinking of those memories made Ty Lee's heart ache and her mouth fell into a slight frown. Why couldn't everything have stayed the same? Suddenly the stark contrast between Azula's eyes that night of their intimacy and the utter shock in them at the Boiling Rock flashed into her mind. Why did Azula have to be—?

  
"Excuse me, Lady Ty Lee? I said we should be arriving shortly."

  
The guard's voice abruptly put an end to her reminiscing. _Probably for the best._

  
"Oh, sorry! Thank you," she smiled at the guard leading her up a smoothly paved walkway to a foreboding black structure: the Fire Nation's mental institution, currently holding one terribly powerful woman.

  
Ty Lee felt her heart skip a beat as they neared the entrance. Four years. They were both nineteen now. The former acrobat couldn't help but wonder at how Azula had aged. After all, the years between fifteen and nineteen were quite significant in that respect. But it wasn't just the physical changes that piqued her curiosity; she worried for any lasting damage to Azula's mental health. Zuko had said she'd improved over the years, but he was her brother and tended to tread lightly on the topic of Azula. Her supposed progress was still a point of contention for most people.

  
She had of course heard stories of Azula's, ah, _instability_ on the day of the comet. Descriptions ranged from the princess harnessing the comet's power in unimaginable ways, to a glaring haircut and mad cackling, far from her usual poise and clarity. Unfortunately, the latter accounts were proven to be accurate, if Azula's current whereabouts were anything to go by. Ty Lee, then imprisoned at the Boiling Rock by the princess herself, was glad she hadn't seen the meltdown. Even now, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt, thinking she pulled one of the first strings that caused Azula's eventual unraveling.

  
_No_. She shook her head to clear it. _No, I didn't do anything wrong that day. Azula was about to do something terrible and I had to stop her. I did what I had to do and I don't regret it. I can't regret it._

  
The guard escorting her halted their progress at the first gate that surrounded the building. She turned her head to stare at the glowering structure in front of her. Now that she was closer, she saw that it reflected the dying light of day oddly. It gleamed at her from all angles. Shivering, Ty Lee couldn't help but think that it was a preview of what was to come. Only it would be a gold gleam, not this metallic dark gray.

  
"It's all metal, you know. They stopped using stone because some of the more unstable patients were able to crack the walls after a while. Fewer can penetrate the metal. It's better protection for everyone. More secure," The guard led her through the initial security gate and was watching her considering the building.

  
Of course, Toph probably set that change of material in motion. She was still the only one who could instantly metalbend, but Ty Lee was sure that the recruits the blind girl was training as a police force would soon acquire that skill.

  
Ty Lee offered a soft "mmhm" as a response. She wasn't feeling particularly talkative.

  
They continued their walk past the outer wrought iron gate towards a thick metal wall. _Another one?_ Ty Lee wondered if all of this security was present before Azula was admitted as a patient here. For simply a mental hospital, it seemed far too extensive.

  
They cleared the next security check after her escort spoke with another couple guards and arrived at the main door within another minute. Two more guards were posted at each side of the entrance and a handful patrolled the perimeter of the building. As the doors were opened for them, Ty Lee thought the building itself looked just as sturdy as the inner gates. The metal must have been a good foot thick, except for the tiny regularly spaced windows. Complete with bars. It was a dismal sight from the outside; Ty Lee hoped the inside wasn't nearly as awful. She didn't think that kind of décor, or lack thereof, would be helpful in rehabilitating whatever patients stayed here.

  
Finally inside, they approached a front desk, where they were directed to an office just down the hall. Ty Lee was to speak with Azula's doctor before visiting. She looked around and was pleased to see that the interior was at least well-lit and carpeted. The metal walls left something to be desired, having only a few sparse paintings and scrolls occupying them, though she wasn't sure a gaudy paint or wallpaper would help much. One staff member was walking towards them with a cart full of empty food trays. Dinner must have just been served.

  
Her guard gently rapped on the frosty glass panel of the doctor's door. A clearly weary voice responded to come in.

  
"Doctor, Lady Ty Lee is here to see you about Azula." He turned to face her, "I'll wait outside and we'll continue to her quarters after your briefing."

  
The doctor was a middle-aged man with thick, immensely well groomed, dark gray hair. He sat behind a desk and rubbed his eyes, "Of course, Ty Lee, welcome and have a seat. My name is Kai Liu. I trust Fire Lord Zuko has been giving you information regarding his sister?"

  
"Bits and pieces. He says she's been improving lately and that's all I really know."

  
Dr. Liu's eyebrow wrinkled slightly as he leaned over to pull out a thick file from one of his desk's drawers.

  
"Her improvements are really a matter of timing and perspective. Over the course of her entire stay here, yes I would say she has improved drastically. Unfortunately she has taken a different direction these past few weeks."

  
Ty Lee did not want to hear that, especially right before she was supposed to see Azula.

  
"Different? How?"

  
Dr. Liu started flipping through what was clearly Azula's file. _Even her file is grander than everyone else's._

  
"She's been refusing her food again and I'm afraid her physical condition has deteriorated because of this. Though she hasn't lost a whit of her intelligence and remains sharp. Often in quite a biting way, as I'm sure you know. But, she still sometimes sees certain people who aren't really there. Not confrontationally, which we see as improvement. Usually we just hear her speaking quietly to her father or mother. And rarely, to you."

  
"Me? What about?" Ty Lee was feeling less and less confident about this meeting.

  
The doctor pinched the bridge of his long nose and looked right into Ty Lee's eyes with his own weathered brown pair.

  
"That's why I wanted to arrange this meeting before you met with her. Her remarks regarding you are not pleasant. She says quite insulting things about what she sees as your betrayal. I don't pretend to know everything that happened that day, mostly because Azula is not one for sharing, but it seems to have affected her deeply. These hallucinations don't happen often anymore but when they do, whether her words are directed at you or her mother, we sometimes have to restrain or sedate her. Otherwise she'll only do harm to herself. You should also know that we house her in the lowest basement level, it has the capability to be cooled and helps suppress her bending ability."

  
Ty Lee sat in disbelieving silence at the chair opposite the doctor's desk. Still? It's been four years and Azula _still_ feels those wounds as if they were inflicted yesterday. And now the princess seemed to group her betrayal with Ursa's past neglect. That wasn't good. That was _really_ not good.

  
"Zuko made it sound like she was getting way better. How could she still have these… episodes?"

  
"She has made progress. Like I said, those moods have become infrequent. But we know the events that cause them have wound themselves deep into her subconscious. Though sometimes she is affected more by these hallucinations, Azula still retains her intelligence. From her past, we know she enjoys manipulation. I suspect she is leading us on to believe she is progressing because that's what we'd like to hear, when in reality she still feels as betrayed as she did when her mother and brother left, when you protected another friend instead of her, and when her father discarded her. Until she faces these obstacles instead of blocking them out, she won't actually make that progress and will continue to hallucinate."

  
He paused to take in Ty Lee's reaction before continuing. She was staring at her lap, twirling the end of her long braid in her fingers.

  
"Azula needs a purpose. I believe she feels useless here and that may be hindering her progress as well. The Fire Lord has clearly directed us to keep her isolated for constant monitoring, as she is still a perceived threat internationally. And we must respect his wishes. Unfortunately, she rarely gets visitors and so I feel I must warn you: Do not be alarmed by her appearance, we had her restrained today as a precaution. Do not be surprised if she yells or is angry with you. She has been repressing her emotions from the Boiling Rock all this time and I think she will lash out at your first real visit. Most importantly," Doctor Liu looked pointedly at Ty Lee until she raised her head to meet his gaze.

  
"Do not fall prey to her manipulations."

  
Ty Lee left the office deep in thought and reunited with the guard. They walked back down the long main hallway, and turned left to descend to the basement levels of the building. She was unsettled by the doctor's warnings. Would Azula really rage at her as if the Boiling Rock incident had just happened? Ty Lee was visiting her for a second chance at rebuilding their friendship. She didn't want to lose her forever, but… These new revelations put a serious damper on attempting to maintain any semblance of a relationship with her.

  
_Five… six floors down._ The doctor was not kidding, they housed Azula far underground. And it certainly was cold; Ty Lee could just make out the sight of her own breath fogging in the air before her. She quickly noticed that the staff clearly took less care in maintaining a cheery atmosphere here than they did on the upper floors. No traces of carpet, bare metal was exposed from floor to ceiling and a few dim lights cast eerie shadows on every surface. Ty Lee had the odd feeling that she was walking along the hull of a Fire Navy ship. It was not a comforting thought.

  
The guard stopped in front of a large door at the middle of the hallway.

  
"Here we are," He put a key in the lock and swung the door outwards into the hall. A small, but not entirely unpleasant room was revealed. Ty Lee saw that immediately inside the door on the left and right hand sides were two more guards.

  
She entered and found that the room was divided into two chambers. The first was the one she and the guards were in, a guest area, she supposed. There were two black metal chairs, a couch, and a small side table against the door-side wall under a dim recessed light in the ceiling. There was also a tiny bathroom, complete with a tiny bathtub, that Ty Lee was saddened to find had no door at all. Privacy was nonexistent. Thick iron bars and another locked door separated this area from the other, occupied only by one person.

  
Azula was lying on a red sheeted bed at the back left corner of her cell, wrapped tightly in some kind of blanket, her back to the door. Other than the bed, the only item in Azula's immediate area was an untouched food tray. It was quite difficult to see with the limited light, but her black hair was longer than Ty Lee remembered and it didn't look terribly unkempt. At least she was taking an interest in personal grooming. Azula didn't even flinch as they entered the room. The slight rise and fall of her shoulders was the only sign that she was even alive.

  
The guards made no motion to leave Ty Lee unsupervised with their patient. She did her best to ignore them and walked up to the bars dividing the room, taking a few deep breaths to calm the butterflies flitting around in her stomach before calling out brightly to the resting girl.

  
"Hi Azula, it's Ty Lee. I know it's been… a long time since we've seen each other, but I really wanted to make sure you were okay and—"

  
The huddled form of the girl began silently shaking. _Is she crying? I didn't make her cry, right?_

  
A blast of curt laughter erupted from Azula's mouth and Ty Lee finally heard the silky smooth voice she didn't realize she was craving to hear.

  
"Back so soon? I just sent you away from here. I didn't need you then and I don't need you now."

  
_Oh spirits, she doesn't think I'm real._ Ty Lee was unsure of how to proceed. She didn't want to encourage that she was an illusion by speaking, but she couldn't just stay silent and stare at Azula's back for an hour. Well, she probably could do that, her eyes were glued to the woman. Ty Lee felt her stomach flip.

  
A nasty part of her wanted to get a rise out of Azula, just to assess the damage that needed repair concerning their relationship. She quickly squashed that desire.

  
"Azula, it's… I'm not just in your head. I'm really here."

  
"Yes of course, you're all so perfectly real. Now if you could kindly leave me, I'm just so busy at the moment and I can't stand the sound of you."

  
Ty Lee was surprised; her words weren't as insulting as the doctor predicted. She was expecting a tirade of volcanic proportions, but she was twistedly charmed to hear the tiny digs at her again after so long. The only problem now was how to convince Azula that she was real? Ty Lee stood for several moments, tapping her lips with a finger until she reached a decision. _The guards. I'll chat them up, hallucination Ty Lee can't get responses out of other real people._

  
She turned to the guard who had escorted her all the way from the docks and smiled, "Thanks for bringing me here today. I feel awful, it was such a long walk and I never even asked your name!"

  
The man bowed while keeping the door ajar, removed his helmet, and blushed immediately as his eyes quickly flicked to Ty Lee and then to the other two guards, standing obviously jealous in the wings.

  
"Oh, it was my pleasure! And, uh, my name is Niko."

  
"Niko," insert a standard giggle, "well I'll be sure to ask for you the next time I come here," add a wink for good measure…

  
He laughed nervously as his blush deepened, "Y-yes, anytime. I'll be here. Because I work here." He looked mortified at what blurted out of his mouth, as the other guards shook with stifled laughter. Ty Lee supposed he was sort of cute. Light Fire Nation features with dark eyes and hair drawn up into a short ponytail.

  
Ty Lee maintained her smile, but turned immediately to the cell as she heard the weight in the bed shift. She missed the silent air-fives the guards gave Niko, but it didn't matter. Azula was sitting up, her face half-turned towards them.

  
The light from the ceiling in the guest area barely reached the back corner where Azula's bed was, so she was still mostly hidden in shadow. Ty Lee edged closer to the bars and spoke softly.

  
"It really is me. I've wanted to see you for a while now."

  
Azula jerked up out of her bed and moved towards the bars, her bare feet silent on the cold metal floor. Finally illuminated in the dim light, Ty Lee couldn't hide the look of surprise on her face.

  
Azula was not wrapped in a blanket, it was a straightjacket. Her arms were held tightly across the front of her body, as if she were hugging herself. The straps and buckles around it accentuated her shockingly thin frame. _So these are the restraints Dr. Liu mentioned._ It certainly did not help Azula look any less intimidating. Even with her arms fully immobilized and the chilly temperature of the room, Ty Lee stepped back from the bars. No chances would be taken.

  
After the initial shock of seeing the Fire Nation Princess in a straightjacket, Ty Lee got a better look at her. Azula's face was markedly thinner than she remembered it, cheekbones pronounced and chin more pointed than in her early teenage years. Dark shadows pooled beneath her eyes and a sad thought came unbidden into Ty Lee's head. _She's probably having nightmares._ And she did look frail. Even beneath the jacket, Ty Lee could tell that muscles had deteriorated from lack of use. Her simple dark red shift fell just above her calves, revealing stick thin legs.

  
But Ty Lee was annoyed, in an ex- girlfriend sort of way, to find that Azula was still regally beautiful. Her eyes were not clouded with insanity; they were bright, albeit framed by weary dark circles. And they were the same molten shade of gold that Ty Lee envied. Her hair was long, nearly reaching her waist in a lustrous black curtain. The pieces that normally framed her face had grown out, or at least Ty Lee thought they had. With her hair down it was hard to tell. The princess carried herself with her old practiced poise and grace, exuding an imposing presence even in the straightjacket. As Azula reached the bars, Ty Lee also noticed she'd grown taller.

  
There was something unusual about her appearance though, Ty Lee couldn't quite place it at first but then it dawned on her. _No makeup._ Her lips weren't painted red and her eyes had no black bordering them. It made her look impossibly young, innocent even. Ty Lee snorted inwardly at that last absurd thought. After another moment, Ty Lee noticed an angry red burn starting to blister on Azula's neck and a deep purple bruise peeked out just below her left knee. _Self-inflicted or did she have to be subdued?_ Before Ty Lee could think any more, Azula cut through the silence in a dangerous voice.

  
"Get out of here," she looked at Ty Lee unblinkingly, face devoid of emotion. Her eyes flashed, the only warning of what was to come if the woman did not obey.

  
The woman did not obey.

  
"No. Azula, I came here to talk to y—"

  
"I said get out of here. Now, traitor." Azula's voice was curt. _So she really did still harbor ill feelings about that day so long ago._

  
"Please, just listen to me. I want to try. I want to make things better between us."

  
Azula bared her teeth before any sense of restraint was lost completely. She couldn't grip the bars in front of her to emphasize her words because of the jacket, so she struck her head on them instead.

  
"GET OUT OF HERE! NOW! LEAVE, YOU TRAITOROUS CIRCUS BRAT!"

  
Ty Lee stared wide eyed at Azula. How on earth did she think she could mend this so easily? Had she really expected Azula to calmly listen to the person who literally stabbed her in the back? These feelings had stewed inside of the princess for years. She should have expected it, but still her eyes grew teary as Azula kept yelling and striking her head on the bars. A cut opened on her forehead, unleashing a stream of blood down her face. Her voice grew hoarser with every insult she spat out until Ty Lee turned horrified towards the door as the inner guards rushed towards Azula.

  
She let Niko, ponytail jutting out of the back of his helmet, lead her out of the room before glancing over her shoulder at the still shouting girl. As he shut the door, Ty Lee could have sworn she saw a grin break out over Azula's bloody face, just before one of the guards stuck a syringe into her thigh.


	2. Chapter 2

Azula closed her eyes and leaned her head against the bars of her cell, hair surrounding and shading her face from the guards who backed away to wait for Dr. Liu. The blood from the cut on her forehead oozed down her face and dripped slowly onto the floor in thick drops. She could taste its metallic tang on her teeth.

Maybe she shouldn't have gone  _that_ far. But no, it was right. Her heart was racing, chest heaving as her breathing steadied under the work of the sedative. Azula was elated and she laughed.

The irritating sound of something screeching down the hall covered her laugh of insanity.  _Ah, and here comes Kai._  She straightened herself up and retreated to sit pin-straight on her bed, knowing what was to come. No need to resist tonight.

Seconds later, the doctor walked in the room dragging the source of the screeching: an evil looking metal chair. There were loose straps to be tightened around the patient's legs and arms, binding them completely to it. Several notches on each of the four legs locked directly into corresponding shallow holes in the middle of the floor of Azula's room, rendering it and its occupant immobile.

Kai coughed and cleared his throat. He unlocked the barred door and sent in the two guards to stand in front of Azula. They grabbed her bound arms and stood her upright. The chair grated against the metal floor as Kai pulled it into the room, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.  _He could at least_ try _to pick it up, the idiot. Or they could invest in an actual wheelchair_. With a loud latching sound, it was locked into place.

Wordlessly, the guards maneuvered Azula into the chair and began strapping her legs in. Her arms were already bound tight against her, making the chair's arm restraints useless at the moment. Kai glanced at Azula for the first time and as he studied her face, a puzzled look crossed his own. She didn't look on the verge of the breakdown he thought Ty Lee's visit would cause, she was oddly calm. He withdrew an alcohol wipe and bandage from his satchel to dress her wound.

"You really put on a show for her, didn't you?" Kai made a clucking sound with his tongue. He knelt before her, preparing a bandage. Azula said nothing. She merely stared at him as he wiped the blood from her face.  _Such an ugly shade of brown eyes._ The alcohol on the cloth wipe stung impressively and Azula clenched her jaw against the jolt of pain it sent through her head, but she didn't make a sound.

The doctor inspected the wound closely, assessed that it wouldn't need a healer's attention, and gently applied a disinfectant and bandage. How many times had he done this before? He discarded the bloodied materials into his bag and pulled one of the guest chairs in front of Azula. Her eye twitched at the screeching sound it made. She'd grown to hate metal almost as much as she hated water.

"Any particular reason for the outburst tonight?" Kai spoke with a practiced patience. Four years as her doctor, he thought he knew how to approach her.

Azula glared at him. For all the gentle undertones in his voice, he'd never done anything to  _really_  help her. She hated him like water too, "I should think that would be obvious to someone who claims to know everything about me."

"It is. I thought I might give you a chance to share first. It seems to me that you still believe Ty Lee betrayed you at the Boiling Rock. You haven't seen her since that day and so finally expressing that outrage must have felt liberating."

Her body felt heavy from the sedative, "I've told you, I don't  _believe_  she betrayed me. It's a fact that she did betray me. She betrayed her princess and country by stopping my actions. I did the right thing by tossing her into prison. Such a shame she didn't have a longer stay." She paused, "If only I wasn't bundled in this wonderful jacket, I could have shown her the full extent of my outrage. Now  _that_  would be truly liberating."

The doctor sighed. Azula knew he was a little bored with this routine. She was sure hearing the same answer over and over wore him down, though she didn't quite understand why, when it was a truthful one.

The sedative worked remarkably fast as usual.  _Idiots, how do they expect to hear anything from me if they jab me with needles at the first sign of a problem?_ Azula's eyelids fluttered as she gave in to the weariness coursing through her body. She knew she would sleep soundly tonight; the dreams never came after the drug application.

Distantly, she heard Kai sigh again and suddenly the tension from the restraints relaxed. The guards pulled her to her feet and roughly pushed her to the bed. Her head knocked against the wall, sending a fresh wave of pain coursing through her. She shut her eyes reflexively and heard the guards unlock the chair and screech it out into the hall. She wished the chair was alive, so she could kill it.

The awful sound faded soon and Azula opened her eyes to find her room bathed in darkness. She knew the two guards were still there, could easily sense their presence, and decided to give them a piece of subtle advice to pass along to their friend  _Niko_.

She rolled onto her side and muttered just loudly enough for the men to hear, "That brat… hasn't grown up one bit, probably still fawning over  _turtleducks_ like a child… Circus freak." Azula threw that last one in there for herself.

No response as expected, they weren't exactly encouraged to speak to her. But she could tell by the barely audible whispering that they had at least heard her.

As a child, Azula sometimes enjoyed feeding the palace turtleducks with entire loaves of bread, much to Zuko and Ty Lee's displeasure. One afternoon while playing with Mai and Ty Lee, she accidentally roasted one while showing off some new forms. It managed to plunge itself into the pond, but Ty Lee never quite recovered from that sight and since then, reliably burst into tears every time she saw one of the poor things. Azula smirked before she finally gave in to the sedative.  _Stay the course and this could work._

* * *

 

Ty Lee met with Zuko after her visit with Azula to discuss what happened. He was not pleased that she went to see his sister without telling him first.

"You should have said something!" Zuko had just finished meeting with his generals before Ty Lee rushed into the room they occupied. He pulled off the outer heavy robes he wore and sat down at the head of the table, massaging his temple with one hand. Though he'd only been Fire Lord for a few years, the job had clearly taken its toll on him. Zuko looked much older than twenty one. Tiny creases were beginning to form at the corners of his eyes. His hair had grown long and he wore it in the usual topknot style accustomed to the Fire Lord. The poor man looked quite exhausted.

"I know and I'm sorry. But I thought that you might not let me go," Zuko opened his mouth and Ty Lee, knowing what he was about to say, cut him off. "Or at least, you wouldn't let me go alone." He closed his mouth and frowned.

Ty Lee continued warily, "She wasn't  _that_ bad. Sure, it was… scary seeing her reaction, but I think she'll get better. Dr. Liu said she hadn't had any visitors in a long time but—" At this, Zuko couldn't stay quiet.

"I can't see her as often as I should. It's been so difficult trying to reshape the mentality of our nation and deal with factions loyal to my father. I-I just, haven't had the time," Zuko's voice trailed off as he looked slightly ashamed.

"Zuko, I'm not questioning how many visits you make! That isn't what I meant! I'm sure you'll see her when you can. I just thought that maybe her reaction to me was so negative because she hasn't been able to speak out in a while."

This didn't reassure Zuko at all. His face reddened as he opened his mouth to respond, but Ty Lee kept going.

"I'm going to keep seeing her."

Zuko looked about twelve years old as a flash of incredulity crossed his face, "What?! Ty Lee, if she wasn't restrained behind bars, she might have  _killed_ you! After four years, she still wants your blood. Do you really think she's going to change?"

"I have to! Or what? Give up on her? Forget she exists and leave her totally alone in that cell forever? I can't do that Zuko! And I don't think you could either, she's your little  _sister_. No matter the awful things she's done to both of us, we still love her, right? Even with everything she's done, even if she scares me… I can't stop," Ty Lee stood with her hands clasped across her chest, vision blurring from withheld tears.

She looked away from Zuko at the surrounding room. She, Mai, and Azula used to sneak around the palace looking for entertainment when they were kids. The meeting rooms were a frequent choice of Azula's. Even as a young girl, she would draw herself up to her full tiny height, sit at the head of the tables, and pretend she was the Fire Lord addressing her generals. Ty Lee's chest tightened at the happy memory that was destined to fail, and the tears fell.

She smiled sadly at Zuko, "I have to try."

He returned her smile half-heartedly and walked over to put a hand on her shoulder. Even if he denied her access to Azula, he had a feeling Ty Lee would find another, perhaps more dangerous way to reach her.

"I know, I understand. You can still go, but if she continues to react the same way, we'll have to come up with another solution. Let me know if she acts out," He looked down at Ty Lee wiping the tears from her face, and nudged her chin to meet his eye.

"Be wary of her. Dr. Liu has sent several concerning reports to me lately," he spoke with knitted brows.

Ty Lee wanted to ask why he didn't go see her if that was the case, but held her tongue. Instead she simply nodded and thanked him for letting her visits continue.

* * *

 

"I don't really get why you're coming to me about this."

Mai set her teacup down on the table at the café where she agreed to meet Ty Lee for breakfast. It was a fairly large place, very simply decorated. The cherry tables were handmade and polished to a rich sheen. Plain deep red tablecloths adorned each one. There were a number of generic paintings and pictures hung throughout the place, mostly depictions of the countryside or some yummy looking foods. The two were seated outside in a small courtyard by themselves. Surrounded by tiny shrubs and hanging fire lilies, they were in a good position to be unheard.

"Look, I just wanted you to be aware that I was gonna start to see her a lot. I didn't want you to find out from someone else and get… upset," Ty Lee shrank away from the daggers Mai shot at her with her eyes. "I'm not asking you to come with me!"

"Good, I don't want to. I'm fairly certain if I did, she would find a way out of that straightjacket to murder me on the spot. I don't see why you're giving her a second chance. No matter what you guys might have been at one point, she was pretty awful. Now she's heavily guarded at all times," she shrugged, "seems alright to me."

"She was our best friend and my… I just, I miss her, you know?"

"She was going to kill me."

" _Maybe_. She was maybe going to kill you. She might have just injured you. But I stopped her."

"She threw us in prison."

"It wasn't for very long, and your uncle treated us well."

"She's insane."

"That isn't her fault."

Mai rolled her eyes and picked at a tray of flaky scones the waitress brought over. She waited until the server was back inside the café before continuing, "How many excuses are you going to make for her?"

Ty Lee smiled at Mai. It had been a while since they'd gotten together to talk. She was the same as ever: long sleeved black and maroon dress, constant air of boredom about her,  _dingy aura_. The only noticeable change was her hair, and even that wasn't drastic. She still had heavy bangs and two long pieces of hair framed her face, but the rest was gathered into a single bun at the back of her head. It made her look older, nobler.

"I just want to try with her. No one else seems to really care and I—" She looked at Mai, "Now that I've seen where she is, I can't just leave her with only her own mind to keep her occupied. How will she ever get better that way?"

Mai sighed and took a bite out of a blueberry scone, "Then why did you wait four years?"

Ty Lee cast her eyes downward.  _Typical Mai, blunt as ever_. But she had a point, why  _did_ she wait so long? The easy answer was that she left the Fire Nation altogether to train with the Kyoshi Warriors for almost that entire time. She traveled, she trained, she literally wasn't ever in the area. Zuko had sent a few guard requests to her over the years, but she always passed them off to Suki or one of the other girls. She just hadn't been ready to go back yet.

But after she felt her training and serving with the girls plateaued, Ty Lee came back home. Being on that tiny island for so long was almost suffocating. And she saw that she had fallen into another matched set. The thing she so desperately wanted to avoid. She enjoyed her time with the girls and was happy they accepted her readily after everything that happened, but Ty Lee never could go too long without thinking of Azula.

"I… I'm not sure. I needed the time to do things on my own again. Not being under Azula's leash was nice and I felt free being able to do whatever I liked. But I think the freer I felt, the more I thought of how not free she was. It hurt. It still hurts, to think of how she used to be and see how much has changed. I guess I didn't want to ignore that anymore," Ty Lee took a breath and sipped her own tea before continuing.

"I was afraid to see her. To actually  _see_ how far she'd fallen. I knew how she probably thought of me, and I guess I hoped that the more time that passed, the better a chance I would have at being able to talk to her without being totally afraid she'd kill me. I guess I was wrong about that, but I just want to help her. I think I still sort of love her in a not-friend way."

Mai flicked the crumbs of leftover scone on her plate with her finger. She looked at her friend with a blank expression. Ty Lee met her gaze and couldn't help but compare those darker amber eyes to a pair of vibrant gold ones. She wished Azula could be here with them, all three together like old times.

"You shouldn't still have feelings for her after everything. She treated you pretty awfully most of the time," Mai's gravelly voice shattered the image playing out in Ty Lee's mind.

They'd been over this topic at least a hundred times. And Ty Lee knew Mai was right. Azula really wasn't an ideal love interest. She could be cruel, manipulative, cold, and callous. But Ty Lee knew she was also weirdly awkward with no real social skills because of the way her father raised her. With so much focus on training and the infinite pressure of perfection weighing on her shoulders, Azula had little time to be a normal teenager. Ty Lee felt like she was able to bring that side out of the princess. At least a little bit.

She couldn't explain it. She  _knew_  Azula was bad news. She  _knew_ she'd just end up getting hurt again. But she always came back. Like the dumb circus girl Azula thought she was.

"I know, but I do. And I've tried to forget her, but I can't," she shrugged and plastered a giant grin on her face to conceal the conflict waging war within herself.

Mai gave her a disapproving glance, "I can't say I feel the same way. But you always were the best person of the three of us. So compassionate, I don't understand it." She downed the rest of her tea, "I won't get in your way, just be careful, alright? Azula is as unforgiving as you are sympathetic."

"Of course I'll be careful. It'll be okay! It might take forever, but it'll be okay."

Mai listened quietly while Ty Lee chattered away about a million different things as they finished their light breakfast. Walking out of the café, Ty Lee couldn't resist asking a certain question that had plagued her mind since that morning.

"So are you and Zuko…?"

"Still broken up, yes," Mai answered quickly, shutting down any opportunity for further interrogation. Ty Lee knew Mai wouldn't reveal anything else, and didn't want to push into her private life, so she let the subject drop.

After a short stroll browsing the various items vendors were selling in the streets of the capital, they said their goodbyes. Ty Lee promised to inform Mai of any progress she might have with Azula, though she suspected Mai didn't really care if the princess improved or not.  _I'll have to work on her gloominess next._

Ty Lee set about walking to her apartment situated in an outer neighborhood of the capital, thinking of when her next visit with Azula would be.


	3. Chapter 3

As it turned out, that visit wouldn't be for another two weeks. Ty Lee admitted that maybe she was still a  _teeny_  bit afraid. She kept picturing Azula's deranged bloody grin, face half hidden by her hair. Seeing her unhinged on her very first visit was not a particularly enjoyable thing. Regardless, Ty Lee wanted to go. And after those two weeks of regrouping, she was ready to return and try again.

Unfortunately for her, the princess was not as openly accepting of this new visitation arrangement. Ty Lee returned to the facility nine times over the next two months and each visit was cut short by Azula's outbursts. It was their twisted little routine: Ty Lee takes the trip to the hospital, chats with Niko, talks about everyday things to Azula, Azula stays silent for ten or fifteen minutes, Azula explodes in a seething rage at Ty Lee, and Ty Lee leaves as Azula is sedated. It was tiresome, but Ty Lee promised herself that she would not give up. If anything, these visits solidified her resolve to be there for Azula.

It was an unbearably hot day at the end of an unbearably hot Fire Nation summer that Ty Lee chose as her next visit day. She was sweating walking down to the docks for the ferry ride that would take her to the peninsula where Azula resided. Ty Lee was showing a bit of skin that afternoon and hoped it wouldn't be considered inappropriate visiting attire. She was dressed in a white thin strapped top with pale pink trim that showed her slim stomach and dark pink, loose fitting capris. A few delicate gold bracelets adorned her wrists and another gold plated hair tie held her long braid in place. She had tried to phase pink out of her wardrobe, but she just couldn't seem to do it. It was such a happy color and she figured that the people around her could use all the happiness she could give.

She reached the docks and thanked the spirits that there was a breeze coming from the water. Ty Lee hoped that being out on the ocean for the twenty minute ride would cool the heat she felt trapped inside her. A part of her couldn't wait to get to Azula, simply to be in that cold basement room.

There were only nine passengers on the ferry, including Ty Lee and the captain. Most were older men and women who had relatives in the village near the hospital and Ty Lee loved chatting with them, hearing about their lives. They were all so friendly. She liked to think she brightened their day by listening. Although, she never disclosed where she headed after the ride, even though she thought they'd be in total support of her. Good portions of the elderly were still staunch loyalists of the Fire Nation under Ozai.

The small talk made the ferry rides fly by. As they neared the shore, Ty Lee leaned over the guardrails, staring into the sea and trying to catch a break from the sun via the occasional salty spray that kicked up at her. Distantly, she could just make out the glint of the metal building that was her destination.

Twenty minutes later, she bounced off of the ferry, long braid twirling behind her. She quickly soaked her feet in the cool water before spotting Niko up the road. Ty Lee carried her shoes in her hand as she walked to meet him. She enjoyed talking to the guard too. He tried to make their walks pleasant, since he knew what was probably to come in the basement. The last time she met him, Niko brought her a snack of fire flakes to munch on. The walk to the hospital was probably another fifteen minutes and she often grew hungry from the ferry and walks. She greatly appreciated his kindness, but couldn't help feeling a little guilty for leading him on when nothing was going to come of it.

Today Niko seemed to be bursting with nerves. He fidgeted restlessly while walking towards her. It looked like he was carrying a small basket in one hand. Ty Lee was hopeful that there would be an array of snacks this time, the heat was exhausting her quickly.

She smiled at him as they met on the walkway towards the hospital, "Hi Niko. Staying cool in this heat today?"

Niko wasn't sweating a bit despite the many layered guard uniform he wore. Ty Lee supposed he'd gotten used to being in the sun most of the day. Before he became her escort, he was usually posted outside of the hospital.

"Lady Ty Lee," he bowed. Without his helmet on, Ty Lee didn't miss the way his eyes lingered over her body for a few seconds before he continued, "What heat? Feels like spring to me!"

"Oh yes, I expect it'll rain any second," she exhaled and rolled her eyes, putting a hand on her hip. Ty Lee tilted her head as she looked closer and pointed at the basket Niko carried, bracelets jingling softly, "Did you bring something cold to drink?"

Niko jumped, apparently he'd forgotten about the basket as he eyed Ty Lee up and down. With his free hand, he scratched the back of his head and grinned nervously.

"Unfortunately not today. I, uh, I have something else for you, if you want it. I heard that you've always wanted one… It took me a while to get it but, um, y-you don't have to keep it if you don't want to."

Niko pulled back the checkered cloth nestled in the woven basket and revealed its contents. It certainly wasn't a cold drink, it was a baby turtleduck.

Ty Lee's eyes widened and she dropped her shoes as she saw the little creature. Immediately she recalled the incident that occurred back when she was, what, seven years old? Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee were playing in the palace courtyard near the turtleduck pond. The princess was showing off some challenging new forms and ended up setting one of the poor things on fire. Azula simply stared as Mai looked on with disdain and Ty Lee burst into tears. The little creature was quacking in terror and pain. The commotion drew the attention of Ursa, who came rushing out from a nearby patio to see what new chaos her daughter had committed.

Ursa was shocked at the sight of an unremorseful Azula standing near a sizzling turtleduck. It managed to plunge itself in the pond before being completely engulfed in flames, but Ty Lee was never sure if it recovered or if perhaps someone had to finish the job later to end its misery.

She stood staring at the innocent creature in the basket, hearing the terrified quacks of the one from her memory, and began crying.

Niko must have thought his gift was a success, because he stood grinning watching Ty Lee cry what he thought were happy tears. Once she started sniffling, he noticed something was wrong and quickly set the basket on the ground. He straightened himself and saw Ty Lee had buried her face in her hands.

"What's wrong?! Are you okay? You aren't allergic to them are you? I knew I shouldn't have listened to those guys, they overheard Azu—"

Ty Lee snapped her head up to look at Niko, tears still streaming down her cheeks.  _Of course. Of_ course  _it was her._ "What did she tell them?"

This sudden change of sadness to anger shocked the young man, "She-she didn't really tell them anything. They just heard her mumbling about how you always wanted one as a pet. I thought it was risky trusting her, but turtleducks are so harmless. I didn't think it would be a bad idea…" He trailed off, his hopeful look from just moments ago dashed to bits.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. I'll take him back, they make tricky pets anyways."

Ty Lee felt bad for the man who was obviously trying to win her affections. His brown eyes were full of concern and guilt. She picked her shoes up before wiping her eyes and quickly reassured him that it wasn't his fault.

"It's alright. It's nothing to worry about. Let's just keep going, I think it's time to get out of this heat."

The pair made the rest of their way to the hospital in silence. Ty Lee didn't look as Niko dropped the animal off at the front gate with a chubby looking guard. Dr. Liu was notified of Ty Lee's presence as they passed and by the time they entered the building, Azula had been wrapped in her jacket as was customary for when Ty Lee visited.

She was sitting in the middle of the floor staring expectantly at the door when Ty Lee entered the room for the eleventh time, furious.

"That was a rotten joke, Azula."

The former princess's eyes flashed, but the stoic mask she wore did not betray the laughter bubbling inside her. She had waited  _weeks_ for this. Those guards had actually taken her "incoherent ramblings" as legitimate information. How dumb could they be?

"I don't know what you mean."

Ty Lee walked straight up to the bars and clenched her hands around them.

"You know exactly what I mean! That poor turtleduck from when we were kids… Why would you bring that up again? Do you really like toying with people's emotions that much?" She couldn't help the angry tears that formed in her eyes.

Azula smirked, "Yes."

She met Ty Lee's watery gaze. A tiny twinge of guilt struck her suddenly. When it came to this girl, Azula was always disconcerted to find that her enjoyment of manipulation was usually tainted with guilt. She  _hated_ Ty Lee for what she'd done at the Boiling Rock, that much was certain. But Azula could never seem to completely crush the odd sense of attachment she felt towards her.  _Useless feelings._

Azula stood slowly, bound by the straightjacket, and walked towards Ty Lee, stopping mere inches from the bars, never breaking eye contact.

This was the closest they'd been to each other since Ty Lee began visiting. She did not back away from the bars. She stood, white knuckled hands gripping them, studying Azula's face. She hated herself at that moment for thinking how beautiful her crazy best friend was.

Azula stared back at Ty Lee. Gold eyes never leaving the former acrobat's, until they drifted downwards to take in the girl's outfit and body beneath it.  _It must be warm outside._ This was the first time Azula had properly looked at Ty Lee. She was a little taller and had lost some of that youthful roundness in her face, but seemed otherwise utterly unchanged. Long braid, toned stomach, and wide, round eyes that shined with tears, deepening their gray-brown color. She had to admit, Ty Lee was certainly still attractive.

Ty Lee couldn't miss the meaning of that look and felt a chill spread down her spine as Azula eyed her. Such a different feeling than when Niko did that same thing earlier. She was frozen in place, eye to eye with someone she shouldn't love.

Azula bent her head to the fingers that grasped the bars in front of her. She brushed her lips on one of them for a fraction of a second before retreating to her bed, where she promptly lay down with her back facing Ty Lee.

The former acrobat stood motionless, blinking.  _Wh-what was that about?_ She released her grip on the bars, thumbing over the burning spot Azula had kissed. Clearly the princess was done with her for the day. Ty Lee began making her way back home. She was so thoroughly confused. She hadn't even gotten to enjoy the brief respite from the heat that Azula's room had provided.

* * *

The princess enjoyed days that Ty Lee didn't see come to see her, she got a break from hearing the dreadfully boring daily routine that Ty Lee insisted on telling her every time she was here. It was also nice to be able to move her arms freely without that troublesome jacket. She could stretch and move however she pleased.  _As freely as a "patient" can, anyways._ Oftentimes, when her arms were free, Azula would sit with her back to the bars and inconspicuously practice bending.

Despite being who knows how many feet underground, she could still tell when the sun was out. It was a part of her, coursing through her blood, making her rise at the same hour every day even though there were no windows down here. The guards never seemed to think twice on her behavior, probably assuming she was meditating like Kai mentioned might help her. They only interfered if she decided to be destructive or harmful to herself. But Azula was quite good at hiding that too.

In times of weakness, when she felt like she was drowning in nightmares or self-pity or had done something unwise, she often turned to burning herself. A weakness of its own kind, she knew. But she would never talk to Kai, not the way he wanted her to. Revealing personal things to someone whose sole purpose was to analyze and report her every move to her brother would be idiotic. They'd never let her out of here if she divulged the things she often thought of. Besides, what good would talking about feelings do? That sort of thing was what newly reformed Zuko or  _mother_ would encourage. She hadn't sunk that low. So when it got to be too much, she returned to a source of true freedom and power. Fire.

The fire she could produce down here was significantly weakened by the temperature, and she was enraged to find that it flickered orange instead of its normal brilliant blue. This was not helped by her frequent habits of refusing food, but she could still disperse heat throughout her body and produce a small flame if she wanted. And any flame, no matter its color, can burn.

She found that the pain from heating her fingers and applying them to her shoulder or the base of her neck often woke her up, refocused her on what truly mattered: getting out of this place. Getting outside so she could breathe fresh air, see the sun and the bright cerulean of her radiant fire again. To bend and contemplate using her skills against those who had wronged her.

Azula often plotted against the people she thought most deserved a proper take down, uninhibited from the madness she suffered during that fateful day years ago. Dwelling on the past was never a great thing, and she probably wouldn't carry them out, but the thoughts at least kept her mind occupied.

It all started with Mai. Azula could never pin down exactly what she wanted to do to the stone faced girl, but there was no way in this world that she could go unpunished for what she'd done at the Boiling Rock. For some reason she felt that burning her would be unsatisfying.  _Blame it on those foolish childhood memories_. Perhaps it would be best to escape and let Mai live with never knowing where she was or when she might show up.

The water peasant, on the other hand, would be truly exhilarating to annihilate. That lowly girl had no place in the arena where she and Zuko fought with comet fueled power. One crack of lightning and she would go down.

Peasant girl wasn't the only one. Azula still sometimes imagined taking down her brother. But, as much as she craved with every fiber of her being to be Fire Lord, over the years she'd come to the stabbing realization that her chances of doing so were slim. Despite the fact that everyone seemingly forgot that Zuko was banished and stripped of his crown prince title, his shaky claim to the throne had upheld itself so far.

Zuko had had four years to build up the trust of advisors, generals, and international allies. Even as incompetent as he was, Azula was sure he'd managed to at least do that. He also had the Avatar on his side. And if she somehow strode into the palace demanding an Agni Kai rematch, when she inevitably won, she would face the grudging task of restructuring the entirety of those relations and shifting the Fire Nation back into its spotlight over the other nations. It was possible, and if anyone could do it, she could. But Azula had thought of another appealing option: becoming a sort of anti-Fire Lord.

If, no,  _when_  she got out of this godforsaken pit, Azula was confident she'd be able to round up a small elite following of morally ambiguous people. Those unafraid to dive into a shadowy underworld with her. There were probably a good collection of people still loyal to her and her father, since Zuko wouldn't have had the nerve to oversee executions. They would be welcome in her cohort. And once she established a sense of military camaraderie, she would never fully trust them of course, they could act. A few bribes here, an unexpected disappearance there, and they could chip away at Zuko's carefully constructed connections. Perhaps she could find out more about Father. Azula was sure the Avatar hadn't killed him. He was just a childish monk after all.

But this would all have to be done as a covert operation. Expertly carried out, with no traceable ties. No ties meant no recognition for whatever she might accomplish. She would be living off the grid to avoid being recaptured and tossed back into this metal tomb.  _You'll have nothing. No crown. No throne. No riches. No friends_. The despair that always lurked in her gut threatened to drown her again.

The thought of no longer living as official royalty made bile rise in her throat.  _If you don't like that, you could play nice and work for Zuko, then you could stay in the palace. Always watched. Always under scrutiny. But one day, there could be a chance for you to take your rightful place…_

Azula inhaled deeply, mind split as she considered these things for the thousandth time. Whatever she chose to do, she just wanted to get out of here first.

The only people who had ever visited her were Zuko and Iroh. She hadn't seen her brother in months and it would be no use appealing to the person she hated for stealing her throne. He didn't seem to care that she was in here at all, so the sympathy sister card was out. Iroh on the other hand, had the heart of a sucker and might be easily swayed with a few choice words or apologies over time. But Azula was not willing to negotiate with her tea obsessed uncle. Besides, he'd only visited her once and she was surprised by it, it wasn't like he'd ever taken an interest in her in the past. Like everyone else, he clearly preferred her brother.

It seemed that Zuko was not keen to release her, no matter how well-behaved and recovered she may be. So the task of escape was hers alone.

She clenched her hands, digging her short nails into her palms.  _Everyone always leaves_.

Azula spent four years in here before her true chance at escaping fell into her lap. Ty Lee. Innocent, sweet, traitorous Ty Lee decided to pay her a visit for Agni knows what selfish reason, but the chance to capitalize on this girl's soft nature did not escape her. Judging by the turtleduck visit a few weeks ago, Azula knew Ty Lee still felt something for her. Unfortunately, she did not foresee her own feelings that manifested at the sight of the girl in summer clothing.

To stop the infinite thought cycle that often ensnared her, she sat on the floor at the foot of her bed, back to the bars, and pressed a heated finger to her left shoulder. A low hiss escaped through her teeth, but the guards did not notice. She saw the mark the small burn left on her skin, hating herself for still being so  _weak_. She needed to keep to her plan. Stick to it. Ignore the depths of despair trying to lure her in. Ignore the renewed and oh so tempting visions of the former acrobat's low cut shirt and enticing perfume entering her mind and she might make it out of here. Unless she could do that too…

Before she could fully flesh out this newest idea, Azula was interrupted by a figure sitting on her bed, looking down at her with such pity that she wished her firebending was at full strength. What she wouldn't give to burn that look off of her mother's face.

"Oh Azula, why do you do that to your beautiful skin?" Ursa sat with hands folded in her lap, staring at the fresh burn.

"It isn't going to scar. Not like your son's  _beautiful_ face," she sneered and straightened the corner of her plain red clothes to hide the burn. These appearances were now more of an annoyance than anything else. Ursa usually showed up to spew the lies about loving her or to tell her to stop the burning.  _As if she isn't guilty of worse things_. Azula could handle it, though she would have preferred the version of her father that came to tell her of her failures. At least she knew those things were true.

Ursa reached out to touch Azula's face, but stopped as her daughter backed away hastily.

"You have no right to touch me. Your presence has never comforted me in any way and never will."

The guards were watching her closely now. They knew who she was talking to and were on the lookout for any signs of increased irritation that could lead to an outburst.

Ursa stared sadly at Azula.  _That look._ That pitying look made Azula's blood boil.

"Don't act like you aren't happy about where I am. This is exactly where you thought I always belonged! Even as a child!" Her voice was rising.  _Stay in control, you know how to deal with this_.

"Of course it isn't. I want the best for you Azula, I love you so much."  _There's the line_. She stood and approached her daughter on the floor, "I wish you would listen to me, you would be so—"

"So what? So kind? So meek? So like  _Zuko_? I thank the spirits every day that I didn't end up like him, turning his back on his country time after time and yet somehow  _I'm_ the one locked away? Father was right about him all along, he's weak and he knows nothing about how to run a country," Azula could feel herself slipping back into old feelings of rage, mind racing wildly.  _Don't give in to her._

"You aren't in here for your actions in the war, you're here to heal your mind. And Zuko  _is_  running a country. He's the Fire Lord and I couldn't be more proud of my little boy."

Something broke inside of Azula and she launched herself from the floor to the bed where Ursa sat, "It should have been ME! I was the strong one! I was the smart one! I was  _perfect_!" Azula tore at the sheets, anger pouring into her hands as she unintentionally singed the red cloth. She knew it was a hallucination, but these were topics that had long since stopped coming from Ursa's mouth. Through the blind fury, Azula wondered why her mind was opening old wounds. Maybe Ty Lee's recent visits had freed these demons from their soundly built cages.

The guards entered her cell and stopped her from ripping her bed to shreds. A needle jabbed her thigh and she felt ashamed as hot tears formed in her eyes.  _It should have been me._

_You should have been proud of_ me _._


	4. Chapter 4

Azula awoke hours after her forced sedation to a dark cell. Night had fallen. She sat up and put her head in her hands, feeling groggy. A fresh wave of shame came over her as she remembered what happened earlier that day. She lost control in here, just like she used to do all the time.

_Why? Why can't this just go away? Why can't I be perfect again?_ She laughed bitterly to herself, knowing she'd never been perfect in the first place. It was all just a brittle illusion. An illusion that had quite a few people convinced, until that untimely breakdown.

Subconsciously, Azula heated her hand and put it around her neck. The pain was sharp, but she didn't immediately remove the source of heat. She let it linger for longer than usual until she couldn't stop a shout from escaping her mouth.

She removed her hand as she heard someone stir in the guest portion of the room.  _Someone's on the couch_. It was dark, but Azula could tell it wasn't a guard. The clothing that rustled was soft, not like the clinking plates of a guard's armor.

"Azula? Are you okay?"

_Ty Lee_. What was Ty Lee doing here at this time of night? She must not be real. After all, she wasn't restrained for a real Ty Lee visit. Though having two hallucinations in one day was rare...

The princess asked, "Why are you here?"

Ty Lee sat up from under a thick blanket on the couch and stretched, her skin prickling in the cold air. It was late, maybe two or three in the morning, and pitch black in the room. She could sense the single guard they posted during the night dozing in the chair next to her. She kept her voice low, "I came to visit and heard what happened. Just wanted to make sure you slept okay."

Azula heard her yawn. She had a sudden desire to see Ty Lee, touch her, confirm that she was real. So she stood from her bed and approached the bars.

Ty Lee heard the bed creak and the next time she spoke, Azula's voice was much closer.

"Are you really here?"

Ty Lee thought Azula's voice sounded strangely vulnerable. The vision of her mother must have really shaken her. That or she was still in the grips of the sedative. But now, once again, Azula thought Ty Lee was a figment of her mind. She stood up, back cracking from the awkward position she'd been sleeping in.

"Of course I'm here. I'm right here. I came in the evening, but I kinda forgot that the ferry stops running back to the capital after dark, so here I am! I was supposed to sleep in one of their unused rooms upstairs, but it looks like I didn't make it," Ty Lee grinned sheepishly, although she knew Azula couldn't see her.

"I don't believe you. Come closer."

Ty Lee was wary of that request. She didn't sense any anger flowing from the girl behind bars, but with Azula, you never knew what was lurking beneath the surface. Maybe it was because she was still sleepy, or maybe she was totally crazy herself, but Ty Lee quelled the doubts piling up in her mind and stepped towards the bars.

She whispered, "I'm right here, Azula. It's me."

Azula followed the sound of her voice and positioned herself in front of where Ty Lee was standing. She reached through the bars and with too much effort, managed to bend a tiny orange light. Ty Lee's face was outlined dimly in the dark. Her eyes were still heavy with sleep, but she looked at the flame with caution.

The princess was gutted at the sight of the color, "This is all I can do right now. You don't have to be afraid." Her brain battled itself inside her head. Part questioned why on earth she was worried about traitorous Ty Lee being afraid of her, when normally she would revel in the fear. It wanted her to act, summon a larger flame, scare her! But the other… The other desperately wanted to be comforted by her after today's events.

For all the teasing she endured for being able to read people's auras, Ty Lee could tell from Azula's that she was in no immediate danger. The usual cerulean and gold was swallowed by gray. Ty Lee looked at her through the bars and felt intense sadness for this girl. Azula looked exhausted, thoroughly beaten by whatever she was fighting internally. The dark circles under her eyes had worsened over the past few weeks, and she still hadn't gained any weight. Though, thankfully, the cut on her forehead had vanished. She trained so hard in her youth to reach her dream. But she ended up sinking in her father's negative influence and now was in a mental hospital, leaving Zuko and everyone else to live their lives like they'd always wanted. She lost everything.

Again, the unwanted guilt that Ty Lee played a role in bringing Azula to this place stabbed at her. She wanted so badly to hug Azula in that moment, reassure her that it would be alright, tell her she was sorry for what happened to her, but she knew Azula. And Azula wouldn't want to be coddled. Besides, she could lash out and strangle her or something. Ty Lee's mind screamed at her to stay where she was. But her heart spoke louder.

_Forget it, what have I got to lose?_

"I'm not afraid, Azula."

Ty Lee reached through the bars as best she could and held the young woman in her arms. What little warmth Azula emitted was probably due to the fact that she was such a powerful firebender. Without her prodigious skill, Ty Lee imagined she'd have frozen solid long ago. The former acrobat could feel every bone in Azula's torso and for the millionth time, tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. Azula made no motion to back away, so Ty Lee clung to her tighter, face pressed awkwardly into cold iron. She released one arm to tuck Azula's hair behind her ear before whispering to her.

"You're alright. Everything's okay. I missed you so much. I lo—" She stopped before that one slipped out.

After a few endless moments, Azula reacted to the contact. The dim glow from her hand extinguished and she lightly touched Ty Lee's back. They stood that way for a long time, with Ty Lee stroking her hair and whispering those same things to her. The warring in her head grew louder, one side yelling to harshly push away, the weak one craving the touch.

For the time being, in the pitch black, Azula felt it was okay to give in to the weak one.

When Ty Lee moved to brush Azula's hair off of her shoulder, her fingers scraped the raw skin of the princess's neck. Azula jumped back as a faint whimper escaped her. In that brief moment of contact, Ty Lee felt like the skin she'd touched was on fire. Azula's hand flew to her neck to conceal the burn she inflicted minutes earlier, but under the cover of darkness it didn't really matter.

"What's wrong?" Ty Lee was concerned. She remembered the hint of a burn she saw weeks ago on Azula's neck and thought there might be another one.

Azula responded coldly with an easy lie, "Nothing. I just remembered who you are." She left Ty Lee standing in the dark and went back to her bed in the corner, tempted to give herself a new burn.  _Don't be weak. You can't have feelings for her. She betrayed you. She's why you're here. But…_

Azula shut her eyes tightly, wondering how she could possibly want to be physical with, yet also emotionally taunt Ty Lee. She  _liked_ the idea of hurting her the way she'd been hurt.  _Betrayed by your best friend, huh?_ Two could play at that game. The thought sent a vindictive chill through her.

Ty Lee still waited at the bars, stung by princess's retort, but hoping impossibly that she would come back. When it became obvious that wouldn't happen, she returned to her couch to sleep, smiling at the fact that Azula let her touch her.

It was late morning when Ty Lee finally woke up. She rolled off the couch, her acrobatic skills making the action quite graceful, and began to stretch out the stiffness that the night on the couch had given her. The chill of the room hit her like a brick wall and she willed herself to not crawl back under the blanket. Her eyes closed as she went through some old forms to loosen and warm up. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled as she sensed a pair of gold eyes watching her.

"Good morning, Azula," she chimed as she continued to stretch, putting a little more sensuality into it than perhaps was necessary. But she felt motivated from their proximity the night before. Holding Azula sparked a desire for intimacy that she thought had surely fizzled out. There was no response, but when Ty Lee opened her eyes, she found the woman staring at her from the end of her bed.

Ty Lee asked, "Did you sleep okay?"

Azula rolled her eyes and Ty Lee almost laughed at the nostalgia of the gesture.

"As well as anyone could in this place," she crossed her arms, never taking her eyes from Ty Lee's movements. "Guard, I'm hungry. Bring something down here," Ty Lee couldn't help a shiver from travelling down her spine at the command. Her voice still possessed its intoxicating persuasive and demanding tone.

At some point, Ty Lee noted, the two day shift guards had begun their work. One of the men knocked on the door to be let out. Niko, who was waiting in the hallway to escort Ty Lee out at her request, opened it to let the man get a tray of food for Azula.

Ty Lee restrained herself from jumping with glee.  _She wants to eat! That's a good sign!_ She finished her stretching and shook out her long braid. It had tangled into an unruly rope from her night's sleep. While she combed her fingers through the chestnut locks to straighten them out, a few evenings she, Mai, and Azula spent in a tent in the Earth Kingdom flashed into her mind.

"Do you remember when you let me comb your hair sometimes while we were—"  _should I mention the Avatar or Zuko? Better not._ "—spending all those nights in that cozy tent?"

Azula knew what she'd been about to say, but didn't care to respond combatively. She looked at Ty Lee with narrowed eyes, "Yes. As I recall, your combing skills needed improvement. I think someone could have made a small wig from the strands of my hair you left on the ground."

Ty Lee giggled, "Oh it wasn't  _that_ bad. I mean, I didn't have professional hair combing servant skills, but I was alright, considering the circumstances." She tied her long hair up in a ponytail before beginning to redo her braid. She saw the remaining guard watching her out of the corner of his eye, but paid him no attention. She was happy that she and Azula had had a normal exchange for all of two or three minutes.

The girl behind bars saw a chance, "I suppose you were better than Mai," she flexed her hand and looked at her nails, "in a few different aspects."

Ty Lee finished with her hair and tossed the long braid over her shoulder, "Huh? What do you mean?"

The golden eyes traveled the length of Ty Lee's body and she schooled her face into a mockingly confused expression, "You don't know?"

"Azula, I really don't—"

"Oh come on, Ty Lee, use that dull little brain of yours for once," she leaned back against the wall, legs crossed. She looked awfully like her old haughty self and Ty Lee was suddenly reminded of a whole bunch of mean things the princess said in the past. Azula continued, "I thought I'd come clean about something this morning. After all, Kai says I should be  _honest_." She shot a wicked glance over at Ty Lee.

The idea of a voluntarily honest Azula frightened Ty Lee. She thought about her words, her gaze, and their implications before her mind jumped to an impossible conclusion. Confused, she blinked as she looked at the smirk on Azula's face.  _No, Mai wouldn't have… not with…_

"You and Mai?"

"I must say, I didn't think you'd be so quick on the uptake," Azula stood from her bed and strode towards Ty Lee.

The princess was speaking too nonchalantly about this. Ty Lee's mind raced, thinking about what she meant.  _What? When? What exactly happened? How many times?_ She knew she'd only get acid coated quips back from Azula if she asked those things, so she made a note to ask Mai. As soon as she left here, she would find Mai.

For right now though, Ty Lee blinked as she struggled to respond. Her throat felt constricted and her heart throbbed painfully.  _She might be lying. She's probably lying to make me feel bad. Mai will tell me everything. Don't freak out until you talk to Mai_. Ty Lee was struck with the sudden obvious realization that Azula was a princess; she could have had anything or anyone she wanted. But if it was true honesty, then she had to be pleased Azula told her. Right? For the sake of progress?

If it was the truth, Azula said she'd been better than Mai…  _Leave it to this girl to smash my heart and give me a compliment at the same time. Always pain and pleasure._

Ty Lee decided to use the latter as inspiration for what she did next. She wasn't going to be a doormat for Azula's cruelty any longer. She'd grown up over the past few years too, maturing after the war.

She pushed the tightness in her chest away and walked forward with a certain sway to her hips to meet Azula at the bars, whispering so the guard wouldn't overhear, "Mm, but you think I was better? Mai always did strike me as a prude."

Clearly this was not the reaction Azula wanted. One of her eyebrows twitched briefly in annoyance that she hadn't caused the former acrobat to fall to the floor in a sobbing mess. But Ty Lee continued as if nothing was wrong.

She bit her lip as she looked at Azula, "Tell me what you liked about me. Did I make you feel good coming back from Ba Sing Se? I think the noises you made that night prove that I did."

Azula's jaw clenched, the action not going unnoticed by Ty Lee. It was rare to render this woman speechless. Ty Lee capitalized on the opportunity. She tucked her loose bangs behind her ear before trailing her hand slowly down her neck and over the swell of her breasts. The frosty air and light touch spread goosebumps over her skin. And the way Azula's eyes followed her hand let Ty Lee know that she also probably noticed the effect this had on her nipples.

She whispered seductively, "Did you have a dream about me last night? Is that why you brought this up, sweet sugar cakes?"

Azula glared. This was not at all what she'd hoped for. She wanted the upper hand, a repeat of the turtleduck situation. But if Ty Lee felt upset by what she'd said, she was doing a great job at hiding it.

The two women were once again face to face at the divide of freedom and captivity. Only this time, it was in the light from the ceiling and in full view of a guard. Azula's mind searched for a response and she was bothered to find that the former acrobat's little tease was working wonders to distract her from intelligible thought.  _It's been_ so  _long since I've been with anybody…_

What actually came out of her mouth was unconvincing, "You're pathetic."

Ty Lee smiled and tilted her head. She knew Azula was flustered, she hadn't raised her eyes from Ty Lee's chest, "Come on, Azula,  _touch_  me. Remind yourself why I'm better."

The logical part of the princess begged her to turn away, to not fall for this girl's seduction. Her hormones, however, wanted her to jump Ty Lee then and there. A repeat of the few times they were together would be so  _delicious_. Azula didn't know how much she craved sexual fulfillment until that second.  _This backfired completely_.

Her hand seemed to rise of its own accord, extending through the bars ready to brush the soft flesh in front of her. Just as Azula's fingertips reached Ty Lee's jawline, the door to the room swung open and in walked the guard with the food she demanded earlier.

Azula had never been grateful to anyone really, but she was on the verge of voicing her thanks to the guard for disrupting the show Ty Lee was putting on. She stepped back as he slipped the generously portioned tray of food under a narrow horizontal gap in the bars where they met the floor.

Ty Lee still leaned against the iron division, tingling from the uncharacteristically gentle caress she received. She watched as Azula bent down to pick the tray up. As she did so, her raven hair parted around the left side of her neck and Ty Lee finally saw the severe burn that covered it. It was a bright shiny red color, not yet blistering, and conspicuously shaped like a hand.

"Azula! What happened to your neck?"

Azula straightened up, tray of Fire Nation cuisine in hand, and shrugged, "Consequence of mental healing."

"That isn't healing! I saw another one on my first night here, what's happening?" She furrowed her brows and turned to face the guards, "Are they hurting you?"

They exchanged a glance, "Of course not, Lady Ty Lee. We would never harm a patient."

Azula barked out a laugh, "Yes, tell that to my shins when you force me into that metal chair contraption."

Ty Lee remembered the bruises from that initial visit as well. Her previous arousal was fading quickly.

One of the guards spoke, "Those markings are from securing the patient when she has fits of instability."

Azula picked at the food on the tray, suddenly not as hungry as before, "Well that's an interesting way to put it."

If the bruises were from restraints, that was one thing, but those burns were serious. Ty Lee asked her again, "Where did you get that burn?"

Azula sat on the edge of her bed, tray balancing on her lap, forcing herself to chew a bite of bread. Her eyes warned Ty Lee not to raise this subject right now. Not with both of the guards at full attention.

"It was an accident. It happened during a nightmare I was having, I must have done it to wake myself up." That was half true. Azula often felt like she was living a nightmare apart from the ones that plagued her in the dark, and the burns did usually "wake her up."

She glared at Ty Lee with sharp eyes, "Not that it's any of your business."

Ty Lee wasn't sure she believed her, but it did sound plausible. She knew Azula still suffered from nightmares and since no one was there to rouse her from them, she could have found a subconscious way to do it herself. If that was even possible. The guards whispered to each other. Azula spotted this and her eyes flicked over to them before returning to Ty Lee.

"I think it's time you head back. I expect you'll want to have a chat with Mai," Azula practically spat her name this time, "your traitorous counterpart."

Ty Lee frowned, having briefly forgotten the information about the past that caused her overt flirtation.

"Enjoy your meal," Ty Lee turned from her as the guards knocked on the door to reveal a still waiting Niko. Just before exiting, she glanced over her shoulder and in her sultry voice from earlier said, "Sweet dreams," winking and leaving a fuming Azula to eat.


	5. Chapter 5

It was raining in the Fire Nation. A gloomy evening fit for the meeting that was about to take place.

Ty Lee hurried up to a polished wooden door in a noble neighborhood of the caldera, covering her head with a small pink jacket. She was dreading this. She'd been dreading this since she left the institution a few days ago. Her stomach was a tangled knot of dread. Did she mention how much she dreaded this?

She raised her hand to knock and hesitated.  _Okay. It's okay. Deep breath and… do it_. Before she could tell her hand not to, it rapped gently on the door to Mai's house.

A few moments of only the pattering of rain on wealthy rooftops and the former acrobat was lost in thought.  _What if they were together for a long time? No, they wouldn't be able to hide it. Oh, who am I kidding, those two are the best at secrets, their entire lives are secret until I force my way in. But how would they be together? Maybe it was just a kiss or something. That's not a big deal. Azula was probably lying. But what if they—?_

She hadn't heard any footsteps shuffle up to the door before it opened suddenly. Mai caught her completely off guard. Ty Lee was staring at the street imagining her two friends engaged in all kinds of activities that she thought were exclusive to Azula and herself.

She jumped and spun around, showcasing a strained smile, "Oh. H-hi Mai."

"Don't sound so excited. Come in, before you drench the whole entryway."

Mai was wearing a long black nightdress with a blood red robe over it. She must have just stepped out of the bath. Her hair was damp and completely tied up in a bun, showing off her slender neck. A strong floral scent trailed behind her. Ty Lee slipped off her wet shoes and followed her friend through a study and short hallway to the kitchen.

Mai's house was small but gorgeous. It seemed that she was doing quite well on her own. Ty Lee remembered she'd gotten a job as an ambassador to the Earth Kingdom, since she and her family spent a good amount of time in Omashu. It certainly must have paid well. The place was decorated like a tiny version of the palace. Fire Nation historical paintings adorned the walls and little dragon statues sat atop tables and bookshelves. There was something distinctly  _Mai_  about it though. Maybe it was the heavily curtained windows or the lack of family pictures.

A teapot was heating up over a little flame in the kitchen. Mai gestured for Ty Lee to sit at a dark wooden table while she prepared the cups.

"So, are you finally going to tell me what this "urgent meeting" is about?" Mai had her back to Ty Lee as she steeped tea leaves in the steaming water.

Ty Lee shifted uncomfortably in her chair. She'd worried about how to bring this up, but figured the best way was to jump in head first. That was how she did most things anyways.

"I saw Azula a few days ago. She's been doing pretty well the past few weeks actually! I've wanted to tell you. No more crazy bursts of anger at me anyways. And we even talked like we used to for, well, like five minutes. But I swear she's doing better!"

Ty Lee paused, knowing she was rambling to delay the reason she was here, "But she, uh, told me something the last time I was there."

Mai turned with the teacups and sat down at the table opposite her friend. She slid one cup over to Ty Lee and licked her lips before blowing softly on her own drink.

_I wonder how much of Azula those lips have touched._

"Hello?" Mai was looking at her with a raised eyebrow, "I asked what she said. It must not have been good if it has you zoning out every five seconds."

Ty Lee flushed, glancing down at her hands and untouched tea, "Were you and Azula together at some point?"

"Yeah. All the time as kids whenever you couldn't play with us. You know that." Mai sipped the hot drink, but her eyes flickered downwards. She could guess where this was headed. It wouldn't be the first time she had to explain it.

Ty Lee took a breath and continued, "No. I mean together as more than friends. Like… like how she and I were together?"

Mai did not answer right away and that was enough of a yes for Ty Lee. She finally looked up at Mai, "Why didn't you  _tell_  me?" Tears threatened to spill from her eyes, but she furiously wiped them away with the sleeve of her shirt, "You know it would have been a lot nicer hearing it come from you instead of Azula." More tears.

Mai looked at Ty Lee with just the barest hint of regret, "We weren't together like how you're thinking."

Ty Lee's heart pumped an ache that coursed through her entire body.  _Azula wasn't lying_.

"Tell me everything."

Mai sighed at the look on her friend's face, "Really?"

_Say no, say no, say no._

"Yes."

A soft scraping sound echoed through the kitchen as Mai slid back in her chair. She folded her arms and looked up at the ceiling, wishing it would collapse on her and relieve her of this awful conversation.

"Well, you know how we all met and played together as kids. Eventually we got to that age when you start to, you know, feel curious things. Azula knew how boy-crazy you were and how uninterested in everything I was. So, since we were her only friends, she picked me and said we should practice kissing when she and I weren't training at our other specialties. And we did. At first they were just innocent pecks, but with age came more boldness. She wanted to do other things."

"You slept with her?" Ty Lee buried her face in her hands, hoping to shield herself from the inevitable response.  _Images of Mai's thin lips traveling down a groaning Azula's naked abdomen_.

"N—"

"When?" She snapped her head up to stare at the apathetic girl, not quite listening anymore. How could Mai be so bored when Ty Lee was over here, pieces chipping off of her heart every second? _Flashes of dark black hair and pale skin moving together on the sheets of a plush mattress._

Another sigh, "I guess right before I left for Omashu."

" _What_?" Ty Lee was frantic.

Mai reached across the table to take Ty Lee's hand in a rare show of sympathy, but the former acrobat pulled away quickly. Mai retracted her hand, annoyed, "Look, you know I had a thing for Zuko then. It wasn't anything, it was just part of that experimentation phase. She was always more into you anyways. I think she wanted to do things because she was upset you left to join the circus."

"Oh yeah, that makes me feel a lot better. 'Hey Ty Lee, don't worry, I slept with the girl you like behind your back, but it's okay because she likes you more than me.' Give me a break, Mai!"

She pushed away from the table in anger and stood with her back to the still sitting Mai.  _Two bodies entwined in a panting rhythm_. Letting out a cry of frustration and pain, Ty Lee broke into a sob.

Mai was struggling with how to phrase what actually happened. She and Azula hadn't slept together. They were still so young at the time, that would have been a bit much. It was more exploratory, but they, mostly Azula, had touched and kissed. And they hadn't strictly limited those kisses to each other's lips. Upper bodies only, though. Even Azula wasn't so bold as to wander further south.

"We didn't—" Mai was cut off before she could wrap her head around how to explain.

"I thought I was, ugh, how dumb can I be?" Her shoulders shook with another painful realization. She whispered half to herself, "She's never loved me back, has she? I thought maybe, before everything got all messed up… It's all just sex and games and manipulation."

Ty Lee felt a chilly hand rest on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't think it mattered." Mai moved to face Ty Lee, "I knew she cared about you in her own way, more than she did for me. She recruited you first when she wanted us to go after Zuko. She picked on you the most. She was  _too_  jealous of the attention you got from every boy. And when Zuko and I dated, you guys got really close. You were basically each other's dates to that dumb party we went to. You knew you loved her, but she doesn't really know how to love so how could she tell you whatever she felt?"

Tears drying on her cheeks, Ty Lee glanced up at Mai, uncertain if she should be mad.  _Mai's pretty face resting between Azula's legs._

"Ty Lee, you're the one going to see her at the hospital, not me. And even you said she's been getting better since you started visiting. That must prove that she doesn't completely hate you after four years, right?"

Ty Lee thought. Mai's words were a little blunt, but she remembered the recently rekindled charge in Azula's eyes whenever they looked at each other. And after the most recent visit, it was undeniable that there was still chemistry between them when Ty Lee was trying to entice her. Just the thought of the way Azula's eyes grazed her body gave her chills.

"H-how am I supposed to know that it isn't just… lust or-or tricks or something?" She sniffed and looked at Mai with watery eyes.  _A drawn out moan from a royal girl being coaxed down from euphoria_.

Mai looked blankly at her, "I don't know."

Ty Lee shifted her eyes, suddenly pricked by a thought that fought its way through the scene playing in her mind.

"Why did you and Zuko break up?"

For the first time that evening, Mai's face was not a mask of stone. Her eyebrows shot up as a look of genuine surprise crossed her face.

"What? Why?"

"Was it because of Azula? Did he find out? Or do you… do you still think about her?"

Mai scoffed, "You think we broke up because I'm in love with his sister? I told you, I  _never_  loved her, not like that." She looked away, "He did find out though. Azula told him a few years ago. I think he couldn't really look at me the same way after he knew. Besides, I never saw him much once he became Fire Lord. All of the waiting around got boring. It was for the best. We're both too busy for each other." A tiny blush crossed Mai's cheeks before it vanished almost as fast as it appeared.

"Why would you give up on something you betrayed your best friend for?" Ty Lee could feel anger bubbling inside her.

Another look of incredulity from Mai, "You did the same thing."

"To possibly save your life. I thought you would at least be Fire Lady by now."

Mai stopped herself from rolling her eyes, "And I did it to save Zuko's life. If I hadn't, I never would have even had the chance to see if he and I might work out. Azula would have let her own brother die. Would you have been okay with that? He was your friend from childhood too."

Ty Lee knew that. She knew all of that, but she wanted to pick a fight with Mai. She wasn't ready to immediately accept these new revelations. The floodgates in her brain had burst with the confirmation of Azula and Mai. The images jammed in front of her eyes.

She pulled away from Mai, "No, I wouldn't have been." She closed her fists and felt a burning in her throat. More images. Her eyes stung, "Did she like it?"

"What are we talking about now?" Mai was growing tired of this meeting. She wanted to go to bed.

"Did Azula like it when you had your fingers inside of her?"

The blush that painted Mai's cheeks earlier stayed there this time, "I  _never_  did that. You're angry, I get it, but it happened years ago. I think you need time to cool off and—"

"Or maybe she cracked through that porcelain mask you wear all the time when she went down on you?" Ty Lee was obviously not listening. She was lost in frames and frames of explicit imaginings. Mai had never seen such a dark look cross her friend's face as Ty Lee said in a sickeningly sweet tone, "I bet you make the prettiest sounds."

Mai's eyes narrowed dangerously, "Okay, you aren't listening. I'm done with this for tonight. Come over again when you've calmed down and realized that there's nothing to worry about. You can deal with her manipulative cruelty. She's all yours."

Mai steered Ty Lee down the hallway to the front door. She waited for her to shove her shoes on before closing the door not so gently at Ty Lee's back. Mai stared at the door, riled up because of Azula's untimely confession for the second time. The fallen princess was still wreaking havoc on her life from behind bars.

Meanwhile, Ty Lee stood outside. Her face upturned at the cloudy night sky, her last few tears mixing with the falling rain. What did Zuko like to say?

_Azula always lies._

Maybe, but her honesty hurt just as much.

* * *

 

Everything was inky blue. Her arms were chained together and her legs kicked furiously. She heard choking gasps coming from somewhere nearby. Another moment and she realized the noises were coming from her own lips. Two shadowy figures appeared above her and she realized where she was.

Azula was drowning. Trapped under the grate that the water peasant chained her to on the day of the comet. The chains cut into her wrists, the water freezing her and forcing its way down her throat. She kicked and propelled herself upwards, only to have her face crash into the metal barrier. Her hands gripped the frosty lattice, desperate to catch a breath. She managed a shallow gulp of air while the water churned around her, slowly rising, before one shadow came into the light.

The peasant. Murderous intent flooded through Azula's veins. The bitch was giving her a look of total satisfaction, standing some feet away in the arena. Cold, blue eyes watched her inhale too much water and too little air. She sank below the surface again, lungs burning with the strain to stay alive. Her movements slowed as she mustered the strength to bring herself to the half inch of air remaining between the grate and the water, hands clutching the metal for dear life. The second shadow appeared and Azula looked Ty Lee in the eyes.

The space to breathe was nearly gone and she panicked, thrashing in the water. Ty Lee merely watched with a detached expression.  _She would let me drown?_  Azula stared up at her, golden eyes freezing over in the water as she pleaded for the first time in her life.

"H-help me."

Ty Lee approached and with a swift stamp of her foot, crushed the fingers latching onto the grate. Azula released her hands and used a precious breath to elicit a shout underwater that came out in a stream of bubbles. She sank, surrounded by the element she despised the most. She felt every last molecule of oxygen leave her lungs as Ty Lee watched her drown.

Gasping harshly, Azula awoke in her cell. Her lungs burned as if she'd held her breath during the nightmare. The look on Ty Lee's face was etched in her eyelids. Every time she blinked, the former acrobat taunted her with that second, more lethal betrayal. Shaking her head, she exhaled to calm down.  _Just a dream, nothing unusual, it wasn't real._

But she felt weak. Weak and  _freezing_. She wrapped herself tightly in the sheets of her bed. The cold of the room had never truly bothered her before. Her father used to train her in harsher conditions than this place. But it was colder than usual.  _Much_  colder. She saw her breath clearly and was frightened to see her fingers had taken on a blue tinge. Azula tried to disperse the fire in her veins to warm them up. When she could not, she began to panic.

_What is going on? Why can't I feel my fire? I'm not still dreaming, right?_ She looked around the room and found it crystallized in an icy sheen. The guards usually posted inside the door were not there.

Azula reluctantly put her feet on the floor to walk towards the bars. As soon as they touched the ground, she recoiled from the icy bolt that shot through her legs and up her spine. She tucked her feet back into the sheets and sat on the bed, staring at the footprints she'd left on the metal floor. They were quickly frosting over again.

For a second time, she tried to spread heat through her body.  _Nothing, I can't feel anything_. She remained on the bed as she shouted for answers.

"G-guards!" She cursed at having lost control over her voice. Too cold to speak without her teeth chattering wildly.

It seemed they could not hear her from outside. She waited a good twenty minutes in the cold before the outer door opened and a brief rush of warmth tumbled into the room. In walked Kai.

Was he just waiting for her to wake up in this freezer? What did she do to deserve this treatment?

"W-what's g-going on? W-hy is it b-below zero in here?" She tried to sound assertive, but imagined the tone was lost in the cold.

Kai shivered, "Good morning, Azula. The guards informed me that you'd taken to burning yourself again," Azula's eyes narrowed,  _Ty Lee just couldn't keep her giant mouth shut that one evening_.

"We can't have you hurting yourself in here. If you burn yourself so badly that you need medical attention, how are we to know? You certainly wouldn't tell us and I don't think you'd take kindly to an implementation of daily burn searches either. So for a day or two, the temperature will be turned down to show you that it isn't okay to hurt yourself like that."

His kind tone made Azula want to vomit, "R-really? You say you don't want me hurting mys-self, but you'll th-threaten my life by m-making me stay in these conditions? How is th-this a legal treatment?"

"The temperature won't kill you. And it's only for one more day. This is a reminder that I am here to help you. If you feel the need to burn yourself, then there are obviously issues you're struggling with. And for some reason, you don't want to mention them. Reach out to me, Azula. You may find it could actually help you."

With that remark, he turned on his heel, white coat swishing behind him, and exited through the door. She relished the quick warmth again before it was swallowed by the icy abyss of her room.

Ty Lee. Ty Lee couldn't shut up when it mattered. Didn't she know drawing attention to her burns would have consequences?  _Idiot girl._

"She was trying to help you," the voice of her mother entered the room. Azula's glare lowered the temperature a few degrees more.

"Oh, h-honestly, not now," she was in no mood to hear a lecture.

"You know she loves you. She was pointing it out because she cares about you and doesn't want you hurting yourself like that," Ursa kept her distance, perched on one of the guest chairs. Azula was foolishly annoyed that her mother couldn't feel the cold too.

"I s-said, not now," Azula buried her face into her thoroughly chilled pillow and bundled into what little warmth she retained in her sheets.

"Don't listen to that nonsense, it's your fault this happened. You were too weak to control your emotions. Though I expect you'll endure this," a deep voice barked out from just next to her head.

Azula's eyebrows furrowed but she didn't turn around to face her father.  _Both of them at the same time? That's… new. This cold is working wonders._ She didn't respond.

"You best make sure it doesn't happen again. Some prodigy, using fire purposefully against yourself? Pathetic," Azula could feel his gaze boring a hole into her back, but she refused to roll over. She ignored whatever else the two of them said and began thinking of anything to distract herself from the temperature. Oddly, she wished she was in her straightjacket. Another layer of clothing, no matter how humiliating, would be welcome.

After a couple hours of restless fidgeting and attempts to keep her extremities somewhat warm, Azula fell into a light and fitful sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Ty Lee lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling. Ever since her fight with Mai a few weeks ago, she'd been feeling so depressed. Of course she was also a horrible mix of angry and hurt to discover that Mai and Azula had done... things. But a touch of relief was there too, at Mai's insistence that they hadn't fully slept together. After Ty Lee had gone home to calm down, many of Mai's words finally reached her ears, including those most important ones.

Unfortunately, there was still something that nagged at her. Neither of her friends had told her what happened. Azula, she could understand. The only way Ty Lee had found out in the first place was because Azula probably wanted to get back at her for the Boiling Rock incident. And while she wasn't affected when she found out in Azula's cell, Ty Lee had to admit the confession was eating away at her.

But Mai… Mai could have told her. Mai  _should_ have told her at some point. Wasn't it just common courtesy to let her know?

She knew it was stupid to be so affected by something that happened probably five years ago. And she knew Mai was right, Azula  _did_ seem to care for Ty Lee in her own twisted way. The teasing, the jealousy over boy-talk, the rare but wonderful times when they just fell asleep together. Ty Lee was sure Azula never did those things with Mai.  _It was just one instance between them. Just for experimentation_. She clung to the hope that it was more than that between Azula and herself.

Ty Lee sat up, long braid brushing across her back. She stretched and yawned, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Today she would go apologize to Mai. And then maybe set out for another visit.

She slipped into her clothes. It was mid-fall in the Fire Nation now, but it was still very warm. Living here meant never having to deal with snow or extreme cold; it was quite pleasant year round.

Ty Lee looked around her messy room. She had a lot of space to herself now that she moved out of her sister filled household. The extra room was certainly welcome, and Ty Lee filled most of it with scattered clothes and girly knickknacks.

She made her way to the kitchen of her small apartment and quickly made a cup of tea before stepping out into the Saturday morning sunlight. Bright and breezy, a perfect day.

The streets were quite empty. No vendors pushing carts full of various trinkets, no kids crying in the marketplace. They wouldn't arrive until the market opened in an hour or so. It was nice. Ty Lee enjoyed the quiet walk across the city to Mai's house.

Ty Lee dawdled a bit, weaving in and out of cramped side streets and looking in storefront windows. She knew eventually her feet would make their way to Mai's house, but there was no real urgency to get there and start the conversation. When she did finally arrive, it was mid-morning. Ty Lee knocked on Mai's door before her mind could think of a thousand reasons not to. It opened shortly afterwards.

Mai did not react at all to seeing her on the doorstep, "Morning," her voice was rough; Ty Lee thought she must have just woken up.

"Hi. Can I come in for a minute?"

Mai looked her over and seemed to seriously consider turning her away before nodding and stepping aside to let Ty Lee in. They settled in the two comfy armchairs of Mai's study, where there was a nice fire sparking quietly in the fireplace.

After a few moments of silence, Ty Lee took a breath and spoke, "I'm sorry I… I'm sorry, Mai. I was really mad and jealous, I guess. I'm still a little mad just 'cause I really wish you'd told me before Azula did." Ty Lee couldn't meet Mai's eyes and chose to stare down at her lap.

Mai was gazing into the fire, "I know. I'm sorry I didn't say anything. I never thought to bring it up, but you need to understand that we didn't sleep together. I never would have let it go that far."

The two of them sat quietly for another minute, as the fire crackled in the grate. Ty Lee looked up at Mai, unable to shake the heaviness from her shoulders.

"I thought maybe I'd get over her while I was away but…" she shrugged, "I keep coming back. I don't want to, but I keep thinking about her. All the time."

Mai's eyes moved to meet the gray-brown colored ones across from her, "I know."

"Do you think I'm crazy for it? I mean, after everything she put us through, I should hate her, right? Don't you hate her?"

"I… No, I guess I don't hate her. I don't like her, but I don't hate her either."

Again Ty Lee couldn't help but feel terribly sad about how much their dynamic had changed throughout the years.

"I thought we'd be best friends for life. All three of us. Now you don't like her, I think I love her, and she's locked in a mental hospital. I wish everything was different. Like it used to be."

A pained look flitted briefly across Mai's face, "Sometimes I do too."

The conversation stalled, but it was not awkward. Ty Lee knew Mai wouldn't have anything else to say and so she stood to leave.

"I just wanted you to know I'm sorry about the other night, okay? I should get going if I want to catch the next ferry. If… If you wanted, you could come with me sometime."

Mai laughed hollowly, "I think we both know that's not a good idea." She followed Ty Lee to the door.

"No, I guess not yet."

"Come over again soon if you want. I don't have an assignment for a while and it's going to be dull around here."

Ty Lee smiled, "Of course I will." She gave Mai a quick hug before setting off to the docks, feeling only slightly better after the brief conversation.

Hours later, Ty Lee arrived at the hospital. She hadn't seen Azula since the day of her sudden bout of honesty. That was almost a month ago. She felt a little guilty at not visiting, but she really hadn't been in the mood to face Azula after meeting with Mai.

She passed through each set of gates easily. Most of the guards knew her on sight now that she'd been visiting for several consecutive months. And she no longer needed Niko as an escort. Ty Lee was relieved at that; the turtleduck fiasco had made things awkward on their walks. As long as she checked in with each set of guards and Dr. Liu, she was allowed to visit Azula on her own.

This time however, when she knocked on the doctor's office door, he sat her down for a chat.

"Lady Ty Lee, I was unaware that you would be coming here today. Did you send a messenger hawk?"

Ty Lee shook her head, "No, I've never done that before. Usually it's okay if I just show up," She felt uneasy, "Should I have sent a hawk? Is something wrong?"

Dr. Liu fidgeted with his hands on his desk. He was nervous about something.

"Ah, no of course not. We just weren't expecting you. I don't suppose you'd like to come back tomorrow?"

Slowly, Ty Lee was getting worried, "I don't really want to turn around and jump right back on the ferry. What's going on with Azula? Is she okay?"

"Right, right, of course. She is fine. Thanks to you, we found out about Azula's little habit of burning herself. Since then, we've treated all of her burns and she doesn't have any visual scars. The habit has decreased, but she still does it occasionally. Probably to feel a sense of control over something."

"What? She said she accidentally burned herself during a nightmare. They were done on purpose?"

"We believe so."

_ Oh Azula _ . Ty Lee got caught up on the doctor's words, "Wait, what do you mean, 'thanks to me'? I never reported any burns."

"No. Not directly to us. But because of a conversation you and Azula shared in her cell some weeks ago, the guards informed me of her injuries and we investigated further."

_ Great. She's probably realized that too and blames me for whatever they're doing to her now _ .

"Okay, but you've found out about it. So what's the problem, why don't you want me to see her? Did she badly burn herself? I've seen burns before, I don't mind." Growing up in the Fire Nation, citizens typically learned quite a bit about burns and their treatment, even if they weren't able to bend the element themselves.

Dr. Liu sighed gently, "No, the burns are minimal. It is the burning act itself that we're trying to discourage. I'd much rather have her talk to me and tell me what it is that's causing these actions, rather than her harming herself. But because she has continued to burn, we have implemented a new system for whenever she does so. Yesterday the guards spotted a burn on her shoulder so today the conditions are in place."

_ New system? More restraints? More sedation? _

"We've lowered the temperature in her quarters so she can't bend."

_ Lowered the temperature? Spirits, how cold must it be to prevent someone as powerful as  _ Azula  _from firebending?_ Ty Lee couldn't recall a time where the princess couldn't bend. Not one. Well, not counting the eclipse.

Gut churning, she stood up abruptly, "I'd like to see her now, please."

Kai opened his mouth as if to deny her request, before inhaling and acquiescing, "You know the way. There aren't any guards posted inside for the time being, so if you need to be let out, knock on the door."

_ Cold enough for no guards _ .

Ty Lee practically flew down the stairs to the basement. She reached Azula's door and was skeptically looked at by the guards outside.

"Dr. Liu said to let me in."

They hesitated, but grudgingly obliged and Ty Lee entered the room she'd become so familiar with.

Or the room she  _thought_  she'd been so familiar with. As soon as the door opened, the frigid air clawed at her skin. She wrapped her arms around herself, chills wracking her body, and glanced around. A massive transformation had taken place. There was actual frost coating every inch of the exposed metal of the room and the air was probably North Pole level cold. Not that she'd ever been to the North Pole, but this  _had_  to be what it was like.

Immediately her eyes were drawn to the huddled figure on the bed. Azula was tightly wrapped in thin,  _why are they so thin_ , sheets, head buried under a pillow. Ty Lee was reminded of her very first visit here. Only that time, the doctor's methods of restraint seemed reasonable. This was inhumane. This controversial treatment was meant for dangerous prisoners, not patients.

"Azula!" Ty Lee called from the bars. The iron cylinders were covered in uneven ice crystals. It probably would have been pretty under different circumstances.

There was no response. Ty Lee craned her neck through the bars to see if she was breathing. Straining her eyes for any movement at all.

There was none.

"Azula! Can you hear me?  _Azula!"_  Panic. The princess was a firebender of insane ability, but even she couldn't handle this level of cold for so long. And if it was so intense that she couldn't bend, how was she keeping warm at all?

The burns were freezing her. Oh, the irony.

Ty Lee rushed to the door and angrily pounded on it, the warmth of her hand nearly causing it to seal to the icy surface. A guard quickly opened it.

"Are you ready to lea—"

"She isn't moving! Let me in there!"

"Lady Ty Lee, we can't do—"

"Does the Fire Lord know his sister, who is still a  _princess_  by the way, is being treated like this?" She violently gestured to the room, "I find it hard to believe he would order this kind of punishment." She glared at them. Her eyes every bit as cold and sharp as the ice that covered the walls inside.

The guards exchanged a glance behind the masks they wore. The one that hadn't spoken shuffled past his partner and approached the locked door into Azula's half of the room.

"Niko, Kai explicitly said we were not to approach the patient for twenty-four hours."

_ Niko? _  Ty Lee looked to the man unlocking the door inside and recognized the ponytail poking out of his masked head. She scowled back at the other guard.

"What kind of place treats a patient like this?" Rushing back into the freezer, she briefly paused at the door to the half of the room she'd never entered before.

"Thank you," she squeezed Niko's arm in desperate appreciation as he nodded, and then she ran to Azula.

Ty Lee slipped to her knees next to the bed, feeling as though she had just plunged them in ice water. She gently nudged Azula, but again there was no reaction.

_ Stay calm, stay calm, she's okay. She would never let this place take her out _ .

The former acrobat lifted the pillow from Azula's head and rolled the young woman over to face her. She was greeted with a frightening sight and choked on her own breath.

Azula was pale as a ghost. There was almost no color in her face at all and what little there might have been was the wrong color.  _Blue_. The tip of her nose was starting to turn blue. So different from the gorgeous shade of cerulean that graced her flames, this was an abnormal, deathly blue. Ty Lee winced as she touched Azula's face. Her skin was ice.

She bent down to listen to Azula's chest, desperate to hear the distinct sound that signified life. Ty Lee was panicking, her own heartbeat pulsing in her ears.  _Not after everything, not like this_.

Thud.

She released a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. It was there. It was faint, but it was regular and it was there. Ty Lee crawled onto the bed with Azula and wrapped her tightly in her arms, willing her body heat to transfer to the one that needed it more.

Thud.

Ty Lee had never felt so relieved. The tears in her eyes fell and froze almost immediately.

She was lying on her side, Azula on her back. Ty Lee's chin rested on her shoulder and she admired the princess from up close. Tiny ice crystals covered her eyelashes, like some kind of weird makeup. Ty Lee brushed them away and caressed the smooth skin of Azula's cheek, eyes tracing every contour of her face. The perfect nose, the gorgeous lips, the pointed jawline. Now that she'd calmed down, Ty Lee noticed a faint mist of breath puffing out of Azula's mouth.  _Alive. Thank the spirits._

Minutes passed as the former acrobat clung to her friend. Stroking her face, squeezing her arms through the sheets, and brushing the hair from her forehead. She noticed the shadow of a burn on Azula's neck. She leant in and kissed the delicate skin, wishing she could take all of this girl's pain away.

"Lady Ty Lee, I think it's time for you to leave," Dr. Liu's voice rang suddenly through the room.

Ty Lee didn't acknowledge his presence with any physical reaction, "I don't think so. I'm staying right here until you crank the temperature back up."

She heard footsteps approaching and spun around to face the doctor, shielding Azula with her arms.

"I'm not leaving her. And if you think for a second that Zuko won't hear about this—"

The doctor looked curiously at Ty Lee, "The Fire Lord suggested this."

Her jaw dropped, " _What_? There is no way Zuko would order you to freeze his sister to death just for a few burns!"

Dr. Liu appeared somewhat conflicted, "He gave us permission to do this when she first arrived here. And having been informed of her recent troubles, he thought rather than sedation, chilling the room further would entice her to speak to us since she values her bending so highly."

"She's  _never_ going to talk to any of you again after this! Are you serious?! I thought you were smart at first and had Azula's best interests at heart, but I guess I was super wrong. You're following awful orders. Zuko should have known better than to suggest cooling. It's cruel to do this to any firebender, let alone his own sister," Ty Lee spoke assuredly and stared at the doctor with flashing eyes. "I won't leave her side until she's warmed up. You can report  _that_ back to the Fire Lord. And next time I see him, I'll make sure he knows just how much she was  _cooled down_."

With that, Ty Lee flipped around and resumed her hold on Azula. She heard a sigh and Kai's steps retreated out of the room. After a few minutes the gentle humming Ty Lee realized must be the power source for the cooling, halted.

She stared at Azula. Her breaths were shallow and slow. Embracing her, Ty Lee placed a light kiss on her shoulder.

"I won't leave you."


	7. Chapter 7

Azula awoke at what she assumed was sunrise. It was impossible to visually tell while she was buried underground in this metal tomb. An icy bite lingered in the air from Kai's most recent attempt to persuade her to talk, but it was much warmer than she thought it'd be. He gave in awfully quick this time.

She was pleased to find it easy to flood her limbs with heat, but Azula couldn't completely shake the deep chill that penetrated her bones. She felt stiff from the so-called "treatment" and when she rolled over to stretch, she suppressed a jerk of surprise in finding herself face to face with a sleeping Ty Lee.

_What?_ Her gold eyes were wide and staring at the woman only a few inches away from her. Ty Lee's breath came in the long, slow intervals indicative of deep sleep. Part of her face was shrouded by loosely fallen bangs. She looked so at ease. Azula didn't know what it was like to sleep so carelessly, so contentedly. For her, nights were often as troubling as days.

Ty Lee's hand was awkwardly positioned between them on the mattress. Azula assumed it had been draped over her freezing body during the night, until she warmed up enough to turn away. She tentatively reached out to touch the slim hand with her own, but stopped, a sick feeling permeating her stomach.

This was the girl who'd so easily brought her down. This was the girl who'd added another link to her insanity chain at the Boiling Rock. A chain that grew so rapidly, she now wore that as a crown instead of a Fire Lord's proper headpiece. This girl had wound her way so deep into Azula's brain that the thought of enacting any sort of revenge here and now did not appear. This was the stupid, ditzy, flirtatious girl that had been her friend since childhood. The closest thing she ever had to a relationship, or whatever their trysts were. And this girl, this friend, discarded her without any hesitation. For  _Mai_ of all people.

Azula hated admitting that it hurt so badly.

Her dark eyebrows furrowed as she withdrew her hand. Was she so bad? Was she so unbearable that everyone left her without a second thought? Mother, Zuko, Mai, Ty Lee, and even Father… Ty Lee made her choice years ago, so why was she  _here_? Why did she come back while the others stayed far away?

She knew the answer, of course, but the concept of love was never her strength.

Now she could guess why the room had warmed up so quickly. Ty Lee must have played the sappy friend card and gotten them to end the freezing conditions earlier than they normally would.

Azula rolled closer to the wall and shut her eyes briefly, banishing the despairing thoughts that circled her mind. She took a breath and exhaled slowly, a thin line of smoke trailing from her lips.

This was also the girl who couldn't keep her enormous mouth shut and set these ice sessions in motion.

The princess sat up and quietly moved to the end of the bed, leaving Ty Lee asleep. She requested a tray of food from one of the guards, who knocked on the door to the hallway to be let out of the room, and retreated to the corner to wait. Her back to the wall, she sat pin straight with her eyes closed, for once not thinking of anything.

Within ten minutes, the guard brought back a tray of breakfast foods for Azula. He also informed her that Kai wanted to meet with her once Ty Lee left.  _Well, that should be fun. Something to fill the wasteland of my calendar._

Azula inspected the food. She wasn't sure why she had been refusing it lately. Although Kai suspected ulterior motives, she just didn't have an appetite. She'd have to change that habit though. If she wanted to get out of here, she'd need her strength. Besides, for being stuck in this awful place, the food was  _tolerable_. Certainly no palace fare, but Azula was sure her brother wouldn't cater special food for his loony sister. She nibbled on some bread and dunked a bite into some rice porridge concoction. There was even a bit of fruit and some not  _completely_  disgusting room temperature tea.

When she finished, Azula slid the tray back under the bars to the guards and returned to sit at the end of the room. It was still early and she didn't feel like waking Ty Lee. Not because she was feeling  _nice_ , she just didn't particularly want to speak with her at the moment. Ty Lee would be all bubbly and concerned about her wellbeing. Perhaps rightfully so, considering Azula never remembered much while she was passed out during the cooling treatment. But no matter, she still was in no mood for that woman's energy.

Instead Azula just sat, back to the wall. She occasionally ran a hand through her long hair and tried to comb out any snarls that formed. What she wouldn't give for a palace spa day…

After a while, the princess placed her hand on the metal floor and heated it as much as she could. Her legs hid the act from the guards, who she imagined were positively bored of watching her every day. Her fits were less common and they didn't sedate her nearly as much as they used to. A little complacency might serve her well.

The heat from her hand slowly seeped into the metal, glowing an extremely dim orange after several minutes. If she was at full power, closer to ground level, with fewer guards, she could probably manage to manipulate its shape over a prolonged period. Wishful thinking currently. None of those conditions were possible.

Freezing though… A new thought entered her mind while her eyes darted to the bars. Azula wondered if the metal could be weakened by successive periods of freezing and thawing. Such drastic temperature changes were sure to affect its integrity, right? She knew the Fire Nation cruisers were giant metal beasts, resistant to cold damage. A strong alloy of steel, she was sure. This room though, and its bars, were iron. Iron could be much more brittle.

Azula lifted her hand from the floor and waited for the glowing to fade before shifting closer to the bars.  _Definitely iron_. They were certainly strong, but not as strong as the walls of this place. It would be stupid to build an entirely metal building if the walls were only a few inches thick. She had to assume they were at least a foot or more. Hoping the walls would shatter from a little ice was foolish. These bars however, were only about an inch in diameter. Azula could see the bumps along the iron and hoped this only decreased the stability of the barrier holding her here.

She stood and walked to the guards, running her hand along the bars casually. Trying to take in every imperfection, every flaw.

"I would like more tea," she said, "perhaps a little warmer this time?"

She sank to the floor and waited for the guard to return. The other one's helmet watched her closely until his partner came back with a steaming cup of tea. He set it down on the floor and Azula deftly reached through the bars to claim it. Turning her back to them, she smiled and sipped the warm liquid, retreating to the back wall of the room.

There were several glaring issues with this newly formulated idea. First, there certainly was no guarantee that repeated temperature fluctuations would do anything at all to the iron. Second, even if there was, it was impossible to guess how long the weakening would take. Currently the room had only been thoroughly frozen three times. Once after the drowning nightmare, once after she carelessly burned her ankle, and now this time. Azula guessed it would take many more freezes to even be able to make a chip in the bars. And who knew what kind of toll exposing her body to the freezes would take? The third issue was the perpetual presence of the guards. Being watched put a damper on any plan she might make up. Recalculations were needed.

What did she know for sure? She knew  _where_  she was. Six floors down in an entirely metal building on a peninsula of the Fire Nation. It was less than half an hour by water from the capital and a fifteen or so minute walk to some northward peasant villages. Two guards watched her during the day, only one at night, but the hallway door was kept locked at all times. The night guard was notorious for dozing on the job. Unfortunately, her bending was weak down here, and a nighttime escape wouldn't help that aspect. She needed to continue eating, stretching, practicing forms that were second nature to her by now, but everything was necessary to build her old strength back.

What she did  _not_ know was also important. The layout of the building, how the rooms were arranged, hallway security patrols, or even the extent of the security measures outside. When she was first brought here, Azula was not capable of mentally noting those crucial details. She needed that information and suspected she knew exactly where to get it from.

Azula's eyebrow rose at a tiny groan from the bed.  _Speak of the devil._ The woman stirred gently. She stretched, revealing a sliver of her toned abdomen, and reached across the mattress to where she thought Azula was still sleeping. When she found only empty space, her eyes snapped open and she sat up looking around the room wildly before she saw Azula sitting on the floor.

Ty Lee yawned and shot her a quizzical look, "Is that  _tea_?"

The princess looked at her blankly. Ty Lee's hair was ruffled from sleep and her clothes were askew. She looked absolutely ridiculous. And pretty.

"I find that 'good morning' is a polite way to start a day."

Ty Lee blushed, embarrassed, "Of course, good morning! So, the tea— w-wait a minute!" She bounded off the bed, frizzy braid flying, and kneeled next to Azula.  _Bubbly and concerned, as predicted_.

"Are you alright? How are you feeling? Are you still cold? Spirits, Azula, I thought you were a corpse when I came here yesterday! How long has this been going on? Why didn't you say anything? I have to talk to Zuk—" She reached out to rest a hand on Azula's knee, but the princess's hand shot out and clutched her wrist to stop her. The guards were alert. One unlocked the barred door and they both entered Azula's chamber in case something went south quickly.

Azula sighed, irked that her surprisingly peaceful morning had come to an end. Sipping her tea with her other hand, she looked at the former acrobat, slightly annoyed.

"You'll do no such thing."

Ty Lee was puzzled. At her words and at her wrist in the painfully warm grasp of Azula. At least it was warm and not on the verge of frostbite. That was a plus.

"What? Why not? He could—" Ty Lee stopped at the memory of the doctor's words last night.  _The Fire Lord suggested this_.

"Because if he could do something more to help  _rehabilitate_ me, he would have done it by now. His complete lack of interest speaks for itself," her hand heated the cup, keeping the tea warm. "Besides, I've got a wicked little feeling that dear Zuko wouldn't mind the treatment they've instigated."

This thought was confirmed by the look on Ty Lee's face. That all too familiar,  _how does she know_  expression. Azula was pleased at the correct guess, but her gut inexplicably sank at the confirmation that her own brother ordered cooling.  _Maybe he's not quite as soft as I thought. Perhaps he's learning_.  _Well, a bolt of lightning to the chest could do that to a person._

She barely increased the heat in the hand she gripped Ty Lee with. The woman squirmed a bit, but didn't pull away.

"Now, I've got another feeling that somebody in this room leaked some  _burning_ information to the doctor of this facility," Azula watched the guards cautiously.

"Azula, I didn't say anything! They must have heard us talking abo—"

"You."

"Huh?"

"They must have heard  _you_ talking about it."

Another blush. Ty Lee knew Azula was right. She hadn't exactly let the subject quietly drop the night she saw the bad burn.

"I'm sorry, but how was I supposed to know they'd try to freeze you to death for some burns? I thought they'd treat them and just maybe, I don't know, maybe do something more  _humane_."

Azula laughed, a cold, insincere sound that made Ty Lee wince, "Oh yes, here in the Fire Nation, we're known for our humanity." She channeled all the heat she could muster into her one hand for a brief second, pouring all of that festering hurt this woman caused into it. She was staring at Ty Lee with utter contempt. The former acrobat shouted out and yanked her hand back, a pink splotch spreading over her wrist.

The guards rushed in to lead Ty Lee away, but they slowed at a shake of her head. She clutched her stinging wrist, "I didn't mean for that to happen. You know that, right? I'd never ask for someone to hurt you."

"No, you would just do it yourself," Azula downed the rest of her tea and tossed the cup to a guard, who fumbled it but managed to keep it from dropping. Her eyes stayed focused on Ty Lee, whose head was lowering to look at the floor, but Azula tipped her chin up with a hand. "You don't get to look away."

They stared, hard gold eyes into slowly blinking gray-brown ones. Ty Lee's heart sank. There were so many things she came here with the intention of doing. Talking about the whole Mai thing, updates on her newly cleaned apartment, maybe even asking the guards if they could walk supervised around the floor. But instead Azula had been frozen and her immediate danger overshadowed everything else. Upon waking up, Ty Lee was overjoyed at how the princess had recovered so quickly and so well. And now Azula had sort of admitted for the first time that she was hurt by what Ty Lee had done long ago. So instead of talking about what she'd planned, she crumpled against Azula and cried lightly.

"I'm sorry," a few tears trickled slowly down her cheeks, "I'm sorry. I didn't think all of this would happen, how could I know?"

Ty Lee hugged her around her thin waist, tears staining dark red circles into Azula's clothes.

The princess glanced out of the corner of her eyes at Ty Lee and felt the odd mix of enjoyment tainted with guilt that came when she hit one of Ty Lee's nerves. But, if she wanted things to go her way, she couldn't have Ty Lee hunched against her in a blubbering mess. No matter how many guilt trips she'd like to send this girl on, Azula needed her on her side. For now.

So Azula reluctantly leaned against her. Her hair smelled pleasantly fruity, not clashing with her light perfume. Ty Lee's sniffles were muffled in her shoulder, but they seemed to slow with the new contact.  _If her snot stains my clothes, so help me…_

Azula held back some more decidedly mean spirited responses to her crying, "Don't be so dramatic in the morning. It's usually such a pleasant time."

Ty Lee gave a guilty laugh and smiled, rubbing her eyes of tears. "I was so worried about you yesterday," she clasped Azula's hands in her own, "I thought you might have given up."

"I never give up."

"I know, but I was worried anyways. You-you looked really awful."

"How flattering," Azula stood with a roll of her eyes, hands releasing Ty Lee's soft ones. "I'm clearly doing just fine. With my abilities, that should be no surprise."

Leave it to Azula to brag about herself after almost being on death's door. Ty Lee stood as well, the two were quite close.

"No, I guess it shouldn't," she looked into pools of liquid gold, desperately wishing she could tell what was going on behind them. Instead she pulled Azula into a gentle hug. She whispered, warm breath tickling the princess's ear, "I'm so glad you're okay."

Ty Lee discreetly placed a tiny kiss on Azula's jawline as she pulled back. It was nice not having bars separate them.

The princess stiffened, but didn't object outwardly, so it counted as a win in Ty Lee's book. The guards behind them had relaxed, though they kept a watchful eye on the pair.

Azula spoke, "You should go. I have to meet with Kai soon."

"Oh, okay. Um, can I come back tomorrow? I don't have to work at the store. Oh! I'll have to tell you all about my new job! It's pretty great, I work for this cute little old lady who—" she stopped at the look of utter disinterest on Azula's face and nervously laughed. "I'll save it for later."

Azula pretended to think it over for a minute, enjoying the nervous expression on Ty Lee's face. It was still  _so_ easy to pull the right strings.

"I suppose I can clear my schedule."

Ty Lee grinned, happy at the agreement and that Azula was in a good enough mood to joke.

"Okay, then I'll see you tomorrow. Maybe we can have tea together!" Ty Lee was bursting with joy at the thought of partaking in a normal activity with Azula. Given the conditions, she felt that it would be a welcome change in Azula's day-to-day routine. With that pleasant thought, she was let out of the room and walked up the stairs to begin the trip home.

Azula sat on her bed while a guard locked the iron door. She looked at him expectantly.

"Well? Go get Kai."


	8. Chapter 8

 

The princess waited in her room for nearly an hour before the screech of the restraint chair made its way down the hall. The regular routine followed: Guards unlocked the bars, held Azula in place while the doctor locked the chair in place in the center of her cell, Azula was moved to the chair and strapped in while Kai sat across from her, using a chair from the guest portion of the room.

"Isn't Zuko paying you enough? Can't you afford a wheelchair? This thing is horrific," she gestured as best she could to the obnoxious chair beneath her.

Kai sighed.  _Half of this man's communication is sighs, he's as bad as Mai_. He took out a little notepad and ink to write whatever he found interesting about their session.

"I think you know just as well as we do that this option is much more secure than something with wheels on it. You can't roll away from us," he smiled awkwardly as if he'd just told a funny joke and wondered why no one was laughing. Azula did not react. When he realized she wasn't going to say anything else, Kai continued.

"Well it seems Ty Lee left here in high spirits today. No provocations from you this time? What's the occasion?"

Azula sneered at the awful man and wondered vaguely what it would be like to set his white coat on fire. Thrilling, no doubt.

"I suppose I was in a state of numb shock after your delightful bit of cooling. Or rather, Zuko's bit of cooling."

Kai met her eyes but displayed no outward reaction, "Ah. So she told you about that. Well, are you surprised? You did try to strike him down numerous times, wouldn't you do the same?"

"Of course not. I would have had myself executed a long time ago, but my brother is much too soft for that kind of action. Long distance passive-aggressive punishment is more his style," she picked at one of her nails with her thumb. Kai noticed.

"Does it bother you that he, or anyone besides Ty Lee for that matter, hasn't been to see you in months?"

_Oh good, full blown therapy mode today._  He was probably hopeful that she'd loosen her tongue after playing nicely with Ty Lee. Fine, she could play with him a little today too.

Azula scoffed, "Of course not. They're all just staying away because they fear me. And that's exactly how Father told me it should be. Rule by fear in all aspects of life."

Kai scribbled some notes. Azula was still shocked at how any bit of realistic information was eaten up immediately by the doctor.

"What else did your father tell you? And if she's visiting you so often, that must mean Ty Lee doesn't fear you. Is that right?"

"He told me many great things," Azula answered elusively. He also told and did very terrible things to her, but there was no need to disclose any of that to anyone. She ignored the second question. She wasn't sure if Ty Lee was gripped by the same combination of admiration and fear towards Azula that she used to be. But Azula didn't want Kai to know that Ty Lee had probably been in love with her since they were thirteen. It was best to keep some things hidden.

The doctor seemed visibly disappointed that Azula hadn't elaborated, but he never pushed for answers he knew he wouldn't get and so he changed the subject to a recent favorite, "You've made some great strides these past few weeks. We haven't sedated you, you've taken regular meals, and the guards say your hallucinatory episodes are tame and infrequent. So why have you continued to burn yourself?"

_This is boring._ She wanted him to leave. Her eyes bore into the hideous mud brown ones across from her and she licked her lips seductively. Perhaps she'd steal a move from Ty Lee. Unpredictability usually shook Kai into giving up and she hadn't tried  _this_  sort of tactic before, "Because I like how it feels." She clenched her hands around the ends of the chair's arms and leaned as forward as she could in the restraints.

"I miss the heat. That feeling of control. Wielding something so raw and powerful is truly  _pleasurable_ ," she purred in the voice that had conquered Ba Sing Se.

Azula had never spoken quite like this to Kai before, her usually vitriolic voice was dripping with honey. Sinfully, sweetly suggestive. She knew she was attractive, but she hadn't had much of a chance to wield it in this way before everything fell to pieces. But she was older now, so why not practice a different kind of warfare, a new way of toying with someone? Why not polish her skills on an already nervous little mouse of a doctor?

His reaction was not disappointing. He schooled his face into an unemotional mask, but she saw a slight chill shake his shoulders as she could only imagine what was running through his brain.  _Just from my voice? So easy_.

He gave a miniscule jerk of his head to reawaken himself before asking, "Are you telling me you get sexual gratification from burning yourself?" The guards looked at each other through their helmets. Azula wished she could see their faces.

She cackled, "You're a doctor, haven't you heard of masochism?"

His eyebrows twitched and he wrote hastily in his little book. She could only imagine the notes.  _Princess Azula, insane, manipulative, masochistic._ Let them spread rumors. What did it matter now that they all knew she was crazy anyways? A giant fracture had appeared in her previously flawless armor, now visible for all to see. It pained her to think on that too much. Her perfection was an unplanned casualty of the war.

"I see. Well, unless there's anything else you'd like to disclose this afternoon, I will return to my office."

He wasn't looking directly at her anymore and tucked his notes away as he stood to replace the guest chair. Azula was a little surprised that he didn't want to pry more into this information, but she wouldn't complain. Short meetings with this man were always welcome.

"Ty Lee will be returning tomorrow and she would like tea. You will have this ready shortly after she arrives."

The doctor's brow twitched, annoyed that she was ordering him around. He signaled to the guards and they undid the buckles of the chair, one guiding her to her bed while the other removed it and scraped it out of the room.  _Oh spirits, it can't be that heavy, just carry the damn thing!_

"We can arrange that. You'll have to remain locked in here though, last night was something of an anomaly."

Azula sat on her bed while the guard locked her away, "I'm not going to attack her, you know. I would have done it this morning if that were the case."

Kai rubbed his nose, considering the options. This woman was as vindictive as they come; there was little chance she'd forgiven Ty Lee for the past so soon, if she ever would at all. And he knew to never trust her word. He warned the guards in contact with her to abide by the same rule. As he recalled, he'd even told Ty Lee that very thing on her first visit here. He was quite sure that her masochistic confession was a lie, a deflection for reasons yet unknown. But she had divulged a small fact about her father… What he thought was a fact anyways. Based on the defeated Fire Lord's reputation, it was reasonable to think he'd passed on the "rule by fear" rhetoric to his daughter. She certainly seemed to live her life by those words.

The doctor needed to follow his own advice, yet a large part of him felt badly for keeping this talented girl in here with no positive stimuli. Her remaining family never visited, she had no activities to keep her busy as per Zuko's orders, and she was kept in a cooler, also at the Fire Lord's request. A person with a mind such as hers needed activity. Perhaps some less restricted time with Ty Lee would help her. After all, Azula had come quite a ways since that first visit in early summer, probably due to Ty Lee's presence. But he had to be cautious to not let progress blind him...

In the end, he settled for a small compromise, "She can come into your quarters, but I'll have to have you in the jacket."

Azula was oddly comforted by the thought that at least  _someone_ still considered her dangerous, "Fair enough."

Her amusement faded quickly when the chair screeched against the metal floor all the way down the hall. She stuffed her head under her pillow.  _I swear I will destroy that thing_.


	9. Chapter 9

Ty Lee woke up earlier than usual and immediately jumped out of bed to get ready for the trip to the hospital. For the first time, she felt that the visit she was about to make would be fun. Or maybe just normal. Or maybe fun and normal. Okay, maybe she wasn't completely sure about how it would go, but she had a good feeling. Yesterday Azula was so like her old self, it was encouraging.

She rushed around her room, taking longer than she probably should have to choose an outfit.  _Whatever!_  She was happy and pretty clothes wouldn't hurt Azula's mental state. Ty Lee remembered how the princess had looked at her when she wore her summer outfit so long ago and grinned. The weather was chillier now, so she didn't want to dress as revealingly, especially with the ferry ride. It was always so breezy and cool at the coast. She settled on a cute pair of calf length pants and a long sleeved pink shirt. Was it low cut? Maybe a little. Just enough eye candy for a long deprived princess.

The kitchen was a mess, but Ty Lee quickly shoved some old bread into her mouth and rushed out the door to catch one of the first ferry rides of the day. She wanted to get there early to spend as long as she could with Azula.

On her way to the docks, she passed a shop that had recently stocked heavy blankets now that the weather wasn't so terribly hot. Ty Lee was reminded of the thin sheets of Azula's bed and thought it might be nice to bring her a gift. If Azula continued to burn herself, and Ty Lee knew the stubborn girl well enough to know she wouldn't stop any time soon, she thought a new blanket would be appreciated by the princess. At the very least, it would keep her from freezing to death.

She browsed the various quilts and silks. There were all sorts of patterns: dragons in whatever color you wanted, fire lilies, flames, checkers, stripes, and many others. But Ty Lee knew that a simple one would probably be best. So after several long minutes of debate, she purchased a thick, down-lined reversible blanket from the old shopkeeper. It was a deep red on one side and gold on the other. Nothing to write home about, but it was very warm and very Fire Nation-y. Perfect.

Ty Lee practically skipped down to the docks with her stuffed shopping bag in hand. The ferry was just dropping off passengers from the little peninsula and she only had to wait a few minutes before boarding herself.

She chatted happily with a couple from the outskirts of the capital for the entirety of the trip. Ty Lee wished them well once they arrived and quickly walked the distance to the gates of the hospital. She passed the security checkpoints and entered the building to check in with the doctor.

Cheerfully, she greeted him, "Good morning! I brought something to give Azula, if that's okay? It's just a blanket. I noticed her sheets were, um, sort of thin so I wanted to do something nice for her."

Dr. Liu looked up from the folder he was analyzing, perplexed, "No one has ever brought her anything before. Do you mind if I look it over?"

Ty Lee figured he would want to check it to see if she'd concealed anything inside, but she had no problem doing so. It was as she said, just a blanket. She handed the shopping bag over to him and tried not to dwell on the depressing fact that this would be Azula's first gift in over four years.

The doctor unfolded the blanket and thoroughly inspected it, as if he expected a bomb or several knives to be inside. He traced the edges with his fingers and batted his hand against the entire surface. Obviously there were no such weapons present and he placed it back in its bag after a few minutes of scrutiny.

"I don't see why not. You may bring it to her. We'll have the tea sent down shortly."

Ty Lee thanked him and made her way down the hall, smiling at the few patients she saw being led around by staff. She noticed the workers up here were all dressed as they might be in an actual hospital, white coats and Fire Nation red plain clothes underneath. Only a couple helmeted guards roamed the halls. She guessed Azula was one of the few people in here that had guards posted around them 24/7. After all, most of the facility's patients were regular citizens. There were a few high profile soldiers who suffered from atrocities they had seen in the war, but Azula was by far their most special case.

In another minute, Ty Lee was at Azula's door, heart pounding as a guard outside opened it for her. She tried, fruitlessly, to hide the giant bag behind her back as she entered. Managing to somehow completely surprise Azula would have been fun.

But, as soon as she walked in, Azula's head perked up from her seat on her bed, eyes focused on the bag behind Ty Lee's back.

"What's that?"

Ty Lee noticed Azula was in her straightjacket, but she still smiled at the princess, "I find 'good morning' is a nice way to start a day."

Gold eyes glared, "Morning. What's that?"

_ Good enough.  _ One of the interior guards moved to unlock the barred door dividing the two women. Ty Lee supposed it was just temporary to hand the bag over, but then she realized Azula wouldn't really be able to open the gift in the jacket. She looked confused while the guard nodded that she could enter Azula's cell.

"You can come in. That's why I'm in this," Azula raised her shoulders, indicating the straightjacket. "What is that?"

"Geez, someone's impatient. It's a present!" Ty Lee stepped into the cell and heard the door shut behind her. She brought the bag out in front of her and shook it like someone tempting a child with a treat.

Azula rolled her eyes, "I see that, but I can't exactly open it, can I?"

Ty Lee grinned sheepishly and walked towards her friend. Azula still looked quite tired, as she shook her long hair out of her face, but she seemed to be in a good mood today. And she had already glanced at the former acrobat's shirt choice.

The bed creaked slightly as Ty Lee sat next to the princess, "I saw it on my way here in a shop and thought you might like it." She pulled the blanket out of the bag and held it up so Azula could see. "Ta-da! It's a thicker blanket! So, you know, you don't die if they freeze your room."

Azula's face remained stoic for a good few seconds before her mouth curved in a half-frown, "It's quite plain, don't you think?"

Ty Lee shot a disapproving glance at her, "It's totally traditional. The colors are great. If you're feeling angry, you can use the red side, but if one day you feel happy or… I don't know, greedy or something, you can use the gold one! Plus it'll be really cozy at night."

Azula suddenly laughed an actual laugh. Not her usual scary one. Ty Lee stared at her while she did so. Even in her dumb straightjacket, the princess looked incredibly attractive when she laughed genuinely.  _She should do that more often_.

"Relax. It's… fine."

Ty Lee supposed that was as close to a thank you as she was going to get. She smiled at Azula's approval and placed the blanket behind them just as the door to the hallway creaked open and the guard stationed outside approached with their tea. He slid it through the bottom of the bars and returned to his post in the hall. Ty Lee got up to retrieve the tray.

She brought it back to the bed and saw the slight frown had returned to Azula's face, "What's wrong?"

"I can't drink that with my arms strapped down."

Ty Lee hadn't thought of that. When she came here, she expected they'd be sharing tea through the bars, Azula without her jacket. She hesitantly suggested the only real solution she saw to this issue, "I could help you drink it."

The frown on Azula's face deepened. She didn't want to be fed like some  _animal_. After all, she still had a sense of self-respect. But, she was thirsty and the thought of Ty Lee being subservient was slightly appealing.

Reluctantly, she gave a nod of assent. Ty Lee looked a bit shocked at her agreement, but she was not about to question the princess's reasoning. She repositioned herself, legs crisscrossed beneath her with her back to the head of the bed. Azula mirrored her, the tray between them.

Ty Lee carefully poured the steaming liquid from the pot into one of two little cups. Her hands were shaking slightly and she could feel the penetrating gaze of two gold eyes on her. Ty Lee looked up to meet them as she poured her own cup of tea. Azula said nothing while they simply stared at each other. Heat spread across Ty Lee's cheeks.  _She's still so… captivating. Is that the word? I think so. Oh Agni, I'm in way too deep_.

Ty Lee let out a yelp as she realized she had overfilled her cup and tea spilled onto the tray. Azula smirked again and decided to break the tension.

"I figured you were unemployed with how often you come here."

Ty Lee's blush intensified over the spill. She laughed nervously, "Oh uh, no! No, I have a job, I work at a boutique for this nice old lady. She's like sort of ancient and she needed some help running the place. I wasn't looking for any serious work, you know, so I stopped in one day and she was super nice and she hired me! I work there most weekdays, but today she closed the shop because her, um, cat died or something. I don't really remember. She talks a lot and sometimes I forget what she's talking about by the time she finishes."

"I wonder what that could possibly be like," Azula's eyes glinted, but she refrained from rolling them. Quite considerate of her, really.

"Oh ha ha, I don't talk that much. It's just sometimes I get going on a subject or I'm around someone I like and then I just keep talking because it's so easy. But I guess I do like talking, it's fun! Just before I came here I talked to a nice old couple on the ferry. They were going to the village nearby to bring their grandchildren some trinkets they got at the market this weekend. Isn't that so sweet? I thought so—"

Azula cleared her throat, "Could I have some tea before it freezes over?"

"Oh, right, of course! Sorry, I just got going again, huh?" She reached for Azula's cup, "They were just so super nice. I wonder what their grandkids look like, probably really cute. They're only six and four. A boy and a girl, just like you and Zu—" Ty Lee stopped abruptly, eyes flicking nervously to Azula's.

"What? I know he exists, Ty Lee. Do you think I'm going to throw a tantrum just for you mentioning his name?" Azula's face was stern, but not angry. Ty Lee was relieved the slip-up hadn't cost her a nice morning.

"No. I just didn't, uh… no."

"Great. So about the tea," Azula looked down at her still untouched cup and Ty Lee gently picked it up and brought it to the princess's lips. She took a small sip and sneered, "At least it's warm."

Ty Lee replaced the cup on the tray and leaned down to sip her own overflowing cup. It wasn't terrible, but it certainly wasn't the best tea she'd ever had. Maybe next time she visited, she could bring better tea. Or another pillow. Some nice things to liven up this sad little room.

The following hour or so passed with Ty Lee blabbering excitedly about whatever came into her mind, while occasionally tipping the teacup to Azula's lips. She talked about that family's grandchildren for far too long when she didn't even actually know them. She talked about her apartment and how great it was living away from all of her sisters. Mostly she talked a lot about absolutely nothing because she knew Azula probably didn't have anything to say.

Until she had something to say.

Suddenly, after Ty Lee finished a long rant about how she just couldn't seem to stop wearing pink, Azula couldn't take it anymore and decided to speak. She lowered her voice so the guards wouldn't hear.

"I talked to Kai yesterday after you left."

Ty Lee looked at the princess, wondering what she was going to say. Would she really share details from a meeting with her doctor? Or some fun hospital gossip? Wait, they probably didn't swap stories about other patients, right?

"He asked me about my burns again."

_ Oh _ . Azula was probably just going to chide her for her unintentional involvement in the chilling treatment again. Not that Ty Lee was surprised, she  _did_ feel a little guilty about not catching the hints to drop the subject in front of the guards.

Azula looked like she was holding back a devilish smile. She waited for Ty Lee to start drinking her tea before saying, "I told him I did it for sexual release."

Ty Lee's eyes bulged and she sputtered on the tepid beverage, " _What?_  You're not serious? That's not why you do it, is it? No, right…?" Her eyes grew distant as she pictured the princess getting some sort of twisted pleasure from placing a burn on her own neck.

Azula laughed again, leaning back in her straightjacket. She cocked her head at the woman blushing across from her, "Really? Do you really think I'd do that? It was just a little fun. There aren't many chances for that in here." She paused, "Besides,  _you_  know how I like it."

Ty Lee couldn't shake the blush from her face. She was suddenly remembering their first night together on the way home from Ba Sing Se.

_ Azula, tangled in crimson sheets, black hair spilling like ink across the mattress, making ungodly hot, breathy noises. _

She tried not to focus on the memory, but mistakenly met Azula's eyes and swallowed as the princess shifted her gaze down a few inches to Ty Lee's chest and back up again.

_ Ty Lee, flat on her back, royalty between her legs, heated hands wrapped around her thighs, a gifted tongue on her... _

_ No, no, no, nononononono. Don't think about that now. Think of doing boring chores! Think of organizing items at the shop! Think of scary dragons! Azula was sort of like a dragon in bed— No! Lo and Li at the beach!  _ She shuddered at that, before remembering the kiss she and Azula shared after that bonfire…  _Stop!_

Azula leaned closer to whisper to Ty Lee, the buckles clinking on her jacket. The former acrobat was trying to look anywhere but at her friend. At her ex-girlfriend? Ex-whatever-they-were.

"And it isn't as if I couldn't use a little release."

Ty Lee's heart was hammering a warning pattern into her chest.  _Don'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon't_. But she was trapped by Azula's overwhelming proximity. A thin, perfect face loomed inches before her, framed by long black hair. Alluring golden eyes gleamed mischievously.

_ I should move. No! I want to stay. No, move back! No, I want _   _her._

This last desire shot straight to her core and Ty Lee gave in to what she didn't realize she'd wanted to do since she first saw the princess several months ago. She leaned forward to press her lips to Azula's.

The princess pulled back quickly, and gave a fake gasp, amused. "Not with the guards here," she whispered in a tone laced with sarcasm and glanced at the two men on the other side of the bars.

Ty Lee was angry and whispered viciously to Azula, "You tease!"

They were still nose to nose, Ty Lee was breathing fast and glaring at the smug look on Azula's face. It was completely infuriating.

"So get them to leave," Azula barely whispered in a sultry voice. She looked at Ty Lee, dark eyelashes making her eyes pop, even without her usual makeup.

"How the hell would I do that?" Keeping her voice low, Ty Lee stared down her nose at Azula's lips. They were right there, if she just leaned in quick…

"Ah, ah," Azula turned her face when she saw Ty Lee flinch forward. Riling up Ty Lee was a favorite old pastime of hers. Although she wanted to give in to a kiss more than she could have guessed. "You could ask them nicely. I'm sure they'd agree for you. Isn't the one on the left your boyfriend anyways?"

Ty Lee glanced at them. The left one was indeed sporting Niko's ponytail. She looked coyly back at Azula, "Jealous?"

"Not a chance."

Ty Lee made a clear sound of frustration, making Azula practically beam with glee. The pair had finished their tea and so Ty Lee stood to take the tray back to the guards, trying to think of something to say. She pushed it roughly through the bars.

In as sickly sweet a voice as she could muster, Ty Lee spoke to not-Niko, "Could you please get me a little rice? I think the tea is upsetting my stomach." She placed a hand on her abdomen for added effect.

He nodded and knocked to be let out of the room. Ty Lee supposed that when she visited, the third guard was posted in the hallway as a sort of gatekeeper. Azula was watching from the bed, leaning against the wall as casually as one could in a straightjacket.  _One gone easily enough_.

Ty Lee had no idea what to do about Niko. All she  _did_ know was that she desperately wanted him gone, even for a second of privacy. So she prayed to the spirits that Niko, A) still had a crush on her, and B) would somehow be stupid enough to leave them alone.

"Hey, Niko," she beckoned him closer to the bars, "can I have a minute alone with the princess? I, uh…" Ty Lee's brain worked furiously until it came up with possibly the weakest excuse of all time, "I just got a new tattoo and I want to show her. It's kind of in a place I don't usually show strangers so…" She nodded her head at the door and put on a pleading look that would have made a koala-lamb jealous. She heard Azula snicker behind her and stopped herself from shooting a nasty look that way.

"I can't do that, Lady Ty Lee."

Ty Lee took a breath to calm herself, she had to get him to go before the other guard came back. She schooled her face to express utter hurt and willed tears to come to her eyes, "We're locked in here, what could happen?" She sniffed for good measure and continued, "If-if you let me show her, I'll forgive you for that  _terrible_ turtleduck incident. And I won't tell anybody about this!"

His shoulders stiffened at the memory and Ty Lee could practically hear the gears turning through his skull.  _Come on, Niko, just say it_.

"One minute."

She clasped her hands together and thanked him, "Just knock before you come in, so I can make sure I'm, uh… decent." Ty Lee winked, might as well milk it for all she could get.

Niko slowly left the room, but he kept his heel against the door so it stayed slightly ajar. It was enough for Ty Lee who whirled around and strode back to a smirking Azula.

"A tattoo? Seriously? You couldn't think of anyth—"

"Shut up."

She pushed the princess back onto the bed and straddled her before fiercely claiming Azula's mouth with her own.  _One minute, have to make it count_.

Azula had to admit she didn't think Ty Lee would succeed in getting both of the guards out of the room. But at this moment, she banished warnings from her brain about emotions and betrayal and weakness, and responded to a pair of soft lips moving against hers. Four years was a long time without this kind of physical contact. She struggled to move her arms and cursed at the straightjacket.

Ty Lee put one hand around the back of Azula's head, messily deepening the kiss. She felt a throbbing between her legs and screamed inwardly at the knowledge that they wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Adjusted herself, the timer in her head running down too fast, she pressed a thigh between Azula's legs. The princess let out a tiny stifled whimper into Ty Lee's mouth and she instinctively ground her hips upwards.

Bliss. Ty Lee was overwhelmed with old familiar feelings, ones that quickly displaced her omnipresent fear and caution towards the princess.

"Damn it, Azula," she breathed heatedly. Ty Lee sucked and nipped at Azula's neck, while the princess moved her hips erratically against Ty Lee's thigh, releasing silent little gasps.

A pounding at the door broke them apart.

Ty Lee forced herself to pull away, mind and body complaining, and sat at the end of the bed. Azula, meanwhile, didn't even make an attempt to move. Her hips slumped back to the mattress and she lay with her eyes closed. She felt herself pulled to a sitting position by Ty Lee and as they both steadied themselves with their backs to the wall, Niko returned to the room.

The girls acted as if nothing had happened, though both were now uncomfortably aroused. Niko resumed his position and Ty Lee hated him for it.

Azula sat silently while Ty Lee resumed random chatter. Their minds were elsewhere, but they managed to uphold a passable imitation of their previous conversation.

In another five minutes, the other guard came back with Ty Lee's rice. She thanked him and returned to the bed, nibbling on it.

Azula leaned her head back against the wall and looked at Ty Lee out of the corner of her eye, "You're quite the little actress, aren't you?"

The rice was too dry and now Ty Lee was thirsty again. She looked over at the princess and shrugged, "I guess. You sort of have to be when you're a circus performer. My amazing skills must have carried over to real life." She smiled at Azula, wishing they were completely alone.

"Hm. You could use that act to get us some real privacy, you know."

"What? How?" Ty Lee was eager. She'd had a taste of old times and wanted so much more.

Azula shut her eyes, Ty Lee was so  _slow_ sometimes. How she managed four years as a Kyoshi Warrior, she'd never know.

The princess turned to face the young woman next to her, so the guards couldn't potentially read her lips. Her voice was hushed, excited, dangerous. Ty Lee recognized it immediately. Azula always spoke in this tone when she was plotting something.

"Persuade Kai. Lessen the guard presence in my room while you're here. They can still stay outside of course. And if I slip and do something…  _crazy_ , they'll still be able to hear from the hall. Right?"

Ty Lee thought, "I don't think they could. When you threw a fit the first time I was here, the door shut on you and I didn't hear your screams at all."

Azula suppressed a grin,  _interesting_.

The princess went on, "Warm him up to the idea over a few weeks. I haven't killed you yet, so that should reassure him a little."

Ty Lee shivered at Azula speaking so cavalierly about killing her, "I don't know Azula, what if he decides I can't come visit anymore?" She didn't want to get in trouble with Dr. Liu. The more time she spent here, the more Ty Lee saw him as a good man just following his Fire Lord's not so good orders. Ty Lee didn't think he really wanted to see any harm come to Azula and she didn't want to break his trust.

"He won't. He thinks,  _knows_ , your visits are helping me. That's why you ease him into it. Start by asking just for a few minutes with me, then ask for some more. The time will be easier for him to approve once he sees that nothing bad will come of you being in here with me alone," Azula did not blink as she gazed at Ty Lee, hair slightly tousled from their activities earlier. "Don't you want a little privacy? Wouldn't that be nice for a change?" Azula raked her eyes over Ty Lee's body, communicating obviously what she was implying.

Ty Lee didn't like to acknowledge how much she wanted exactly that. Proving Azula right always inflated her already dangerously large ego. But her mouth opened and the words came out before she could think anymore, "I can give it a shot."

Azula smirked and licked her bottom lip, "Good. Give me some of that rice, I haven't eaten yet today."

Ty Lee scooped a large bite of rice out of the bowl with her chopsticks and fed it to Azula. She had a strange feeling in her chest, like a horrible beast had settled down to hibernate there. Another warning rang out inside her:  _Be careful_. With a shake of her head, she dismissed the thought for now and continued to give Azula the rest of her rice.

"So, when I come this weekend, I should just ask to see you alone for a little bit?"

Azula swallowed the mouthful of rice she'd just had and raised her eyebrow at Ty Lee, "Do it however you want. I'm sure you'll be persuasive." She shifted uncomfortably in her jacket, flipping her hair from her face only to have it fall back in the same spot.

Ty Lee reached over and tucked it behind her ear, "I should get going."

"Tell the guard on your way out that I desire my dinner."

Azula's request was muffled by arms wrapping tightly around her, pulling her in for a hug. A wave of sadness had suddenly crashed over Ty Lee. She squeezed Azula and buried her head in the crook of her shoulder.  _She's acting normal, making mean jokes, ordering me around… but I get to leave this place and go back to a warm home where I can do whatever I want. Will Azula ever get that chance again?_

More and more, it seemed that Zuko was convinced that no matter how well his sister was doing, this would be her place for the rest of her life. It weighed heavily on Ty Lee's heart.

Her grip on the princess did not slacken. Ty Lee nuzzled her neck and turned her face to place several little kisses along it. Azula sat awkwardly in her straightjacket, unable to respond even if she wanted to.

Finally pulling back, Ty Lee smiled. Azula immediately saw through the half-hearted gesture and a jab of anger pricked her. Her lip curled.  _She pities me_.

Ty Lee didn't notice, "Okay, well, enjoy the blanket. I lov- look forward to seeing you in a few days!"

She looked at Azula with big misty eyes and smiled again. Collecting the empty rice bowl, she went to the bars and was let out by Niko. She told them Azula wanted dinner and waved back at the princess as she knocked on the door and left the room.  _I was right, this was a good visit_.

Azula remained sitting on her bed with Niko approaching her. He undid the straps and buckles on her jacket, took it out of the room and relocked the barred door. She stretched her arms for a few long minutes, waiting for her food. Tonight she would train silently in the pitch black of her cell. Tomorrow she would do the same and burn herself. The following day would be a freezer day. Friday, train. Weekend, Ty Lee. Rinse and repeat. With any luck, Ty Lee would be able to convince Kai to relinquish some control over her.  _Time to start chipping away at this place_.


	10. Chapter 10

Azula was sweating slightly. Breath coming in hurried gasps that she stifled quickly in the darkness. So far it seemed that the incompetent night guard was taking his usual midnight snooze and had not been alerted to the activity in the cell.

She'd been practicing every night for nearly three weeks, except on ice days. During those times she would bury herself in her sheets and the blanket Ty Lee had brought her. She always slept with the red side up, so it was like she was wrapped in gold. For whatever reason, that comforted her.

The freezings were shockingly tolerable now. She had experienced seven of them. But with the blanket, her regular eating habits, and increased muscle strength from training, she found she could simply take them as rest days. Periods spent in bed scattered throughout the schedule she'd made for herself in this place.

She didn't want Kai to find a pattern in the days she chose to freeze, so most of the time she selected them at random. Burn one day, burns are discovered the following day with ice coming soon after. Most weeknights she used exclusively for training. Sleep was usually for only five or so hours per night, and nightmares still swept her away sometimes. During the day she made sure to request three meals and ate everything they gave her.

The weekend was when Ty Lee visited. She usually brought some gifts to spruce up the cell or to just try to cheer Azula up. New teas, sugary sweet snacks, two pillows, a longer pair of red pants, and Azula's personal favorite: a spa quality shampoo. She pestered Kai until he let her take more frequent baths to use it. Even though there was no privacy, the tub was tiny, and the water came out of the tap ice cold, massaging the rich rose and fire lily scented liquid into her scalp was something new she could look forward to. Something to provide the illusion, if only for ten minutes, of a normal life. Though without servants doing it for her, it never felt quite right.

Ty Lee had succeeded somewhat in persuading Kai to let them have moments alone. Unfortunately, he capped their time at about five minutes. Much,  _much_  shorter than Azula had hoped for initially, but then again, it had only been three weeks. She would make sure Ty Lee kept trying to increase that time. The longer it got, the more Kai would trust her, the more he trusted her, the more favors she could ask.

Azula now knew that Kai had a soft spot for her. Her long established hatred of him had faded quite a bit after she realized a few things: he had never pushed particularly hard for answers to his questions, she could get away with ordering the guards to get her food whenever she wanted, and he allowed Ty Lee to bring her all of those items. She suspected he wanted to do more to help bring her back to her previous status of health, but she still wasn't exactly a cooperative patient.

The only negative thing he'd done was begin the freezings. And she supposed being under the constant watch of guards was annoying too. But both of those things were ordered by someone else. Yes, the real problem, the real man obstructing her, was her brother.

Zuko still hadn't been to see her, not that she wanted him to. It must have been a year since she saw him last. He seemed to have thrown her in here with the hope that she was insane beyond repair and that that would be it. She would live out the rest of her crazy days in a little cell under the watch of strange men at all times, while he drove the Fire Nation into the ground. That's what she  _assumed_ was happening. After all, how could her brother, who had only been to a handful of war and council meetings, who had been  _banished_ for Agni's sake, rule more effectively than she could? She with her soaring academic success, prodigious bending talent, command experience, and extensive knowledge of international and historical tactics.

The longer she thought about Zuko, the more she felt gutted by his place on the throne. It was hers. She  _earned_ it. Certainly more than Zuko had. Ruling over a nation he had switched sides from, how many times? The fact that the number wasn't zero spoke for itself. If only she hadn't lost her mind, perhaps she wouldn't have lost the crown.

She breathed deeply, pushing those maddening thoughts away for now, and refocused on progressing smoothly from one form to the next. Space was limited down here, and it was difficult to complete the more advanced positions. Not to mention how unnatural it felt to be doing them without blue flame blossoming from her hands and feet. But she did them regardless. All of them, multiple times, every night. She found that her vision adjusted quickly in the dark and she became even better at keeping her movements silent. The repetitive nature of the task cleared her mind and exhausted her enough that she fell asleep relatively easily.

Still though, there was something eating away at the pit of her stomach every day. More so than Zuko, more than her harebrained scheme for getting out of here. What bothered her most was Ty Lee. Traitorous, tempting Ty Lee and the awful feelings that bubbled inside of her during her visits.

No matter how much she tried, Azula couldn't completely cut those feelings out. She found herself looking forward to the visits, wondering what new amenity Ty Lee would bring, daydreaming of those five minute hormone fueled, fully clothed, not at all fulfilling make out sessions. Azula was ashamed at how often she pictured Ty Lee doing other things,  _not_  fully clothed. Her mind drifted back countless times to after Ba Sing Se, the handful of nights the two had been completely united. Probably the only times in her life that Azula felt she knew what happiness outside of conquering might be.

But it was wrong, right? To have these feelings for someone who cast you aside like an old doll. To want to slap her across the face but then kiss the mark. Ever since the Boiling Rock, Azula felt justified at seeing Ty Lee sweat with guilt or tear up with emotional pain as a result of her manipulations. But then the days of childhood or soft caresses would march into her mind and she wasn't so sure. A constant game of tug-of-war was waging inside of Azula. Team Discard Ty Lee and Team Maybe Care for Ty Lee. Azula had no idea which side would win out. For now, she supposed the weekend visits were acceptable.  _Purely to convince Kai of my progress, of course._

Her hands moved through the darkness, outstretched in a simplified adaptation of a black dragon form.  _How apt, black dragon in the pitch black._ She slowly reached above her head, bending backwards into a bridge on the floor,  _now just kick the legs up to follow and_ …

"Your forms are weak."

Azula's eyes were well adjusted to the darkness, but even if they weren't she would recognize that voice anywhere. She kicked her legs up too hard and overshot where they were supposed to land by her hands, instead stubbing her toes hard into the floor.

She hissed in pain, listening for any motion of the guard. The idiot slept like a rock.

"Father. Wonderful of you to stop by, it's been so long,"  _and so nice not seeing you_.

"Save your flattery. Why are you still in this place?"

Azula sighed, she rubbed her throbbing feet and stood to continue more stances. "I'm working on it." She exhaled through her nose, "I don't even know why I respond, you aren't real. I suppose I'm just that polite." She flashed a grin at a non-existent person in a room absent of light and felt like a fool.

"I'm real enough. And very confused as to why you're squandering your spare time away on that girl."

Azula paused in her motions, but quickly disguised the movement and continued without responding.

"Yes, I know she's gotten to you. She's wormed her way back into that walled-up heart of yours. What is it you want from her? Physical satisfaction? I assure you, a beautiful princess like yourself could get that from anyone."

She shuddered, suddenly feeling the chill in the room. She could see the form of her father's hulking figure pacing near her. It was unnerving, a shadow in the dark.

"Or perhaps you want what you've lacked your entire life: someone to care for and love you. Is that right?" Ozai circled her like a predator swooping in on its prey.  _He's not here, he can't hurt you here_. She closed her eyes and continued.

The self-proclaimed Phoenix King barked out a harsh laugh, "She's the closest thing you've ever had to that, hmm? But then she—"

"I know what she did. I'll never forget what she did, so shut up about it," the words left Azula's mouth and her eyes snapped open in shock. For a moment her heart stopped, she had never spoken to her father like that. But then, this man wasn't her father. He wasn't even a real man. So why was her heart racing uncontrollably?

Ozai spoke in a voice that Azula hadn't heard since she was fourteen. The tone she'd learned to wield herself, deadly calm and laced with poison. A voice to be used when someone had done something terribly, irreparably wrong.

"What did you say to me?"

The voice knocked Azula back to childhood. She could feel the burns from his scorching hands on her wrists, the flames that licked at her sides as she barely had time to dodge, the lightning that exploded a foot to her left. She was shaking and speechless.  _He isn't here. He can't do that anymore..._

Azula was baffled. She knew, she  _knew_ Ozai was just an illusion. A hallucination created by her mind, a part of her that wanted to indulge in inflicting pain and hurt. Something that showed up whenever she considered her feelings for Ty Lee. A manifestation of her insecurities about weakness. But she was stunned into silence, unable to move as his figure approached her through the dense black curtain, arms behind his back. Two gold eyes glinted.

"I said, what did you say to me?"

She backed away until she hit the metal wall next to her bed. Her voice was shaking, "I'm sorry Father, I didn't mean it. It slipped out, it won't happen ag—"

The back of Azula's skull collided with the wall as her father struck her hard across the face. A flash of white blinded her open eyes for a moment at the impact.  _H-how?_

Ozai did not stop. He pinned one of his daughter's arms against the wall and used his free hand to clasp her neck, squeezing his fingers. Azula choked out a cough and blinked rapidly, mind racing as to how this was possible. Pressure increased on her windpipe and her vision soon clouded with tiny spots.  _Can you be killed by a hallucination?_ The princess was horrified she was about to find out.

As soon as she started making frightening gurgling sounds, the fingers relaxed and Azula sucked in the cool air of the room. Still bewildered by what was happening, she raised her eyes to the man,  _not man, not her father_ , in front of her. She could still feel his loosened grip around her neck, but quickly noticed something sinister about his other hand. Two fingers outstretched in an all too familiar signal of what was to come.

From not being able to breathe at all a few seconds ago, Azula was sure she was hyperventilating now. Utter panic set in, her heart beat much too fast in her chest.

_He can't, it won't work. He can't, he's too close. He can't, I'll die_.

The arm holding Azula's neck withdrew and her mind went blank. She shut her eyes and made to jump to her right, aiming for her bed, arms circling in front of her. Before her left foot could leave the floor, she saw a white-blue flash through her eyelids. Heard the loud crack. Sensed the static charge in the air. And felt a surge of electricity shoot up through the toes still touching the floor. She screamed and fell onto her bed, blue charges spreading up through her leg.

The guard apparently couldn't sleep through that and as Azula lay writhing in lightning on her bed, he didn't shout for help, choosing to run out the door instead. Through the pain, Azula vaguely realized that in order to have left so quickly, the night guard must leave the door unlocked.  _That would have been nice to know a long time ago_. She grimaced, her left leg twitching uncontrollably having taken the brunt of the strike.

Cracking her eyes open, Azula saw that the entire room was covered in snakes of lightning. They crawled over the bars, the walls, the floor, everything. Of course they did, it was made of  _metal_. The light flashed irregularly, outlining the form of her father.

"Why would you d-do this?" Azula choked out through clenched teeth. The pain was constant and intense.

"You needed to know your place. Wake up, Azula. You don't need that silly girl."

Azula bit back tears as she heard the footsteps of Kai and the guard rush towards her room. They halted outside in the hallway, watching until the snakes slithered back into darkness and the room could be entered safely.

Kai bolted into her room and knelt by her bed, checking her pulse, calling to ready the healer, wiping her sweating brow, asking her questions,  _so many questions_. But Azula could only mumble one thing as her tears fell and she recalled a memory stowed deep in her mind.

Three years old, she was in her father's arms as he placed a tiny royal crest in her hair. He held her cheek and kissed her forehead, " _My little princess_."

"D-daddy…"

Then she passed out.


	11. Chapter 11

Kai and the guard rushed an unconscious Azula upstairs to the patient care room. It was spacious enough for six small beds to fit inside, each with their own dividers for privacy. The room was painted white, but the walls were adorned with paintings and decorative scrolls, giving it a cheerful atmosphere for recovering patients.

The doctor was for once grateful that he hadn't finished all of his work during the day. Kai had opted to spend the night in his office, in order to get a few more things done before morning.

The men lay Azula down atop the furthest bed on the left hand side. Her snoozy guard looked around nervously, probably thinking of how this could have been avoided if he'd simply stayed awake and watched for signs of escalation within her cell. His eyes darted around the room and suddenly met the doctor's.

"I have this handled, you may leave," Kai growled at him and the man sped off into the hallway.  _I'll decide what to do about him later_.

A healer hastened to Azula's bed and began her assessment of the damage. She was shocked to find a few residual sparks bouncing off of the princess's leg every now and then.

"What happened to her?" She rolled up her sleeves, revealing dark skinned arms, and began to gently massage the flesh of Azula's left leg, trying to see if there was any serious internal damage.

"Lightning. She managed to generate lightning…" Saying the words out loud, Kai was in disbelief.  _How had she done such a thing?_

The healer sucked in a breath, "Well, it seems like she wasn't struck directly and that's a very good thing. Most likely, the bolt struck the wall or floor, traveling through the metal. She was unlucky enough to still be touching the surface when it hit."

Kai watched the healer,  _Maya? Ma..? Mi… Minah_ , gesture to Azula's left foot. Several jagged, angry red marks had twisted their way from her toes to just above the knee where her shift fell.

He shook his head, half in worry and half in amazement, "Will there be permanent damage? Nerve damage? Superficial damage?"

Minah tied her deep brown hair back quickly, shaking her bangs out of her eyes, and pulled a cart with various medical supplies closer to her. On it were a couple jars of thick ointments, a large roll of gauze, scissors, a painkiller she commonly used, and a vase of water.

"It's hard to say right now, I'll know better once I've started the healing process," she moved her hands smoothly in front of her, pulling the water from its vase. She coated Azula's entire leg in the liquid, concentrating as it glowed a dull blue color. "This will take some time, you may want to contact the Fire Lord."

Kai's stomach sank, "Of course, you're right. I'll be back shortly. If anything happens, send word to my office immediately." He looked at Azula's face, concerned. The young woman appeared so pained even in unconsciousness. Her brow and lips twitched occasionally.

"Please administer the painkiller once you've finished," with one more glance, he turned and headed down the hallway.

Reaching his office, he closed the door and settled at his desk, face in his hands. How on earth did this happen? Over the past few weeks, months even, in comparison to the first year or two of her stay here, Azula had shown stunning improvements. Though she still was not speaking candidly in their one-on-one sessions, her interactions with Ty Lee were no longer hostile, she was eating regularly, and looked quite healthy. Kai was genuinely happy to see Azula like that; he always felt great joy when his patients showed signs of recovery.

But now… What had changed so suddenly? Why would she do this? And how was she able to conjure lightning? He knew she was capable of it, of course. Who in the Fire Nation hadn't heard the tales of their fourteen year old prodigy princess wielding lightning during the war? He'd assumed, foolishly it seemed, that if she couldn't firebend, she couldn't bend lightning either. Kai was no bender, so his knowledge on how it actually worked was less thorough than others'. He would have to ask. The process for performing the two skills must differ somehow.

He rubbed his temples. The Fire Lord would not be pleased with this development. If the princess was notorious for her skills and unfortunately now, her instability, her brother was known for his hot temper. In recent years, he'd learned to control it, but Kai suspected the threshold was always lowered when it came to Azula.

The young Fire Lord had initially seemed caring, devoted to the mental well-being of his little sister. But after months, when she hadn't made a miraculous recovery, Kai suspected that Zuko became disheartened. Once he realized that her improvements were far outnumbered by setbacks, his visits diminished, along with his patience with Kai.

It was sad, really. Zuko losing heart probably hurt Azula more than either of them knew. Not that the young woman was without fault; she never exactly tried to mend her relationship with her brother. Kai had learned quickly that the rift dividing the royal family was far deeper than he'd expected.

He often probed Azula about her father, but never getting any worthwhile answers, he did not push for information. It nagged at him though, a feeling that somehow that brutal man was responsible for why Azula and her brother were how they were. After all, the young Fire Lord wore proof of that brutality on his face.

Kai's head snapped up out of his hands, suddenly remembering what Azula had mumbled before she fainted.  _Daddy_.

Was it because she was in pain? Oftentimes people call for their mothers in such circumstances. But no, it didn't seem like a cry of physical pain. Kai remembered her eyes, unfocused, blinking back tears, looking at something only she could see. It dawned on him.

_A hallucination._

She must have had a vision of her father before the lightning strike. It was possible that she had tried to attack him, especially if he'd said something she considered offensive.

Although, Azula was well aware of her hallucinations. The last time she attacked one was with Ursa months ago. The guards normally reported hushed conversations or her usual biting remarks, but she reacted less and less frequently with violence.

With Azula's prowess in battle, Kai also knew she would have been aware of her surroundings. And he doubted she would attempt to conjure lightning in an entirely metal room. He doubted the thought of using lightning in that room had ever crossed her mind.

That meant… Could "Ozai" have attacked her? It could explain the pure hurt he saw in her eyes. Another act of betrayal. He would have to ask Azula about this once she woke up.

He leaned back in his chair and stretched his arms, resting them behind his head.  _If only she would talk to me. We could get to the root of these problematic relationships and I could help her devise a way to confront the hallucinations before they turn so combative. I want to help her_.

Kai was then struck by another thought. Only he, one guard, and Minah knew what happened tonight. Most things concerning Azula were already kept quite confidential, as per the Fire Lord's orders. The doctor had quarreled with Zuko on a few occasions regarding his ideas about the princess. Kai was sure Zuko never wanted any true harm to come upon his sister, but he was also not so sure Zuko wanted Azula thriving. They never spoke about what would become of her if she recovered enough to leave this place. And shouldn't that be the end goal? After all, this was not a prison, but it did increasingly feel like Azula was being imprisoned here.

Since Kai was a doctor, the well-being of his patients was what he cared about the most. Would it be treasonous to not inform the Fire Lord of what happened here tonight? He was afraid telling Zuko would cause the man to tighten the already stifling restrictions on his sister. He didn't want to cause her anymore unnecessary punishment for things she could not help.

The doctor inhaled deeply and took out a slip of paper and a brush. He quickly wrote a letter, sealed it, and without another thought walked up a few flights of stairs to the roof with its tiny aviary. Kai roused the quickest capital-bound hawk they had. Its yellow eyes blinked sleepily at him, but once they focused on the scroll in his hand, the bird trotted to the edge of the enclosure and waited to be fit with a leather carrying pouch. He quickly tucked the letter inside and attached it to the bird's feathered back. Holding out his arm, the hawk latched on loosely with its talons and he walked it outside of the enclosure. With a little shake, the bird took off into the night.

He secured the aviary and returned downstairs to check on Minah's progress with Azula. The princess was still unconscious and quite pale, but the healer had wrapped her leg in gauze and was just injecting the painkiller. She looked up as Kai approached her.

"I've done what I can. She'll be alright. The blast spread through her whole body, but it seems her leg took the most of the damage. The ointment and gauze will keep the wound free of infection. It will be tender for quite some time, she must be careful or it will scar badly."

Kai smiled weakly, "Thank you, as always your skills here are greatly valued."

Minah returned the smile and walked away, "I'll check on her in the afternoon tomorrow. Goodnight, doctor."

"Yes, goodnight," Kai watched her leave, still mulling over the night's unexpected events. He soon returned to his office to grab the unfinished case files that he wanted to review and then went back to the patient care room. The doctor remained there all night, perusing his work and checking in on Azula every so often, hoping he wouldn't regret what he'd done.


	12. Chapter 12

_Scratch scratch scratch._

It was pitch black outside, no moonlight to offer any assistance, but the bird found its target quite easily. Perched on a very narrow windowsill, it lifted its sharp talons again to rap against the glass.

_Scratch scratch scratch._

Still no movement from inside the room. The hawk ruffled its feathers in impatience. Surely this person knew how important he was? The best and quickest hawk of the whole hospital aviary, here to deliver a special message. Its fluffy white chest puffed out in pride.

The night was silent as the grave, aside from the hawk's attempts to rouse its target. No people or animals were awake at this hour.

Spreading its wings and flapping them to shake out a little flying cramp, the hawk paced along the windowsill. Using its talons hadn't worked yet, so the bird decided to employ a more abrupt method of waking someone.

_SCREEEEEECH_.

A piercing call rang through the silence. The bird bobbed its head up and down at the magnificent sound it created. Best hawk for sure. It saw a light flicker on inside and heard uneven footsteps approach. Quickly it hopped to one side, so the human could open the window.

Barely awake, a woman with long chestnut brown hair poked her head outside. Yawning, she let the anxious hawk hop towards her. Ty Lee's eyes blinked a little faster as she realized where the bird was from. She snatched the letter from the leather pouch on the bird's back and watched as it took flight and disappeared into the darkness within a few seconds. A job well done.

She shut the window, cutting off the cool breeze that tumbled through it. Clutching the letter tightly in her hand, Ty Lee sat on her bed near the dim light and tore the sealed hospital letter open. She read apprehensively:

_Lady Ty Lee,_

_I will preface this by saying: do not worry, Azula is okay. However, I wanted you to know that there was a serious accident here tonight. She injured her leg badly as a result of unintentional lightning generation. I am hoping a visit from you at your nearest convenience would help comfort her._

_I can tell you more concerning this situation upon your arrival. We will be in the patient care room, a few doors down from my office on the ground floor. Azula will have a healing session in the afternoon, she should be conscious by then._

_If you could, please refrain from telling the Fire Lord about this for now._

_Dr. Kai Liu_

Ty Lee reread the letter two more times before slouching on her bed.  _Unconscious from lightning generation?! How could she use lightning when her fire is so weak down there?_

She was now awake enough at 3am and completely lacking a way to get to the hospital. The ferry wouldn't run for several more hours, it was way too far to walk, and she didn't own a boat or an animal to get her there quicker.

After turning several unlikely ideas over in her head, Ty Lee decided the only thing she could really do was wait until morning. She perused the letter a few more times and nodded to herself, knowing that it was the right decision. Azula was probably still unconscious anyways and Ty Lee would have to stop by the boutique to say she wouldn't be able to work.

Breathing deeply to calm down, Ty Lee stood and placed the letter on her nightstand. She flopped back onto her bed, facedown, thoughts swirling in her head about the princess.  _Azula… What happened?_

She must have been sleepier than she thought, for within a few minutes of stuffing her face into the cushy pink pillow, and despite thinking about Azula, she drifted off.

What felt like moments later, Ty Lee awoke to a few scattered sunrays beaming across her face.  _I could have sworn I shut the curtains last night—_

She bolted upright. The hawk! Azula! She had to go!

She quickly shook off her pajamas and grabbed a pair of pants, a shirt, a jacket, and jogged out her front door. If she got hungry, she would just request some food at the hospital, Dr. Liu probably wouldn't mind.

Ty Lee ran down the streets, shouting a few apologies to the people she accidentally bumped into. She arrived at the store within minutes, clambering through the door as the little bell on it clanged loudly. The older woman Ty Lee worked for was in the back of the shop, preparing to lay out some new merchandise for the day. Seeing that her employee was in such disarray so early, she kindly agreed to let Ty Lee take the day off.

_Docks next_. Ty Lee caught her breath outside in the morning sun and then continued on her race to the ferry. She had to get there early enough to catch the first one, otherwise she would be stranded in the capital for at least another hour.

Luckily there was nothing to worry about. The ferry was there, tied to the little dock and a few people were already queuing up to board. Ty Lee joined this line and waited. She was the picture of anxiety: jittery fingers drumming across her folded arms, chewing her bottom lip incessantly, her foot tapping a steady rhythm into the ground. She glanced all around her, looking at nothing in particular, thinking only of what she might find once she arrived at the facility.

Dr. Liu said Azula was alright. So, that must mean there wasn't any serious damage from the shock, right? Or was it really bad and he was just waiting to break the news in person? She couldn't be in any worse of a state than when Ty Lee found her nearly frozen that one day. Unless Azula had managed to blast one of her arms off or something.

She closed her eyes and shook her head.  _Nope, don't think like that. If he said she was okay, then she must be okay and that's all that matters. Once I get there, I can worry more_.

The man that operated the ferry unhooked the bright yellow chain barring people from entering and slowly the little carrier filled with people. Ty Lee hadn't seen the ferry so packed before. She filed in and stole away to a corner of the boat, not in the mood to chat with strangers. Her concern for Azula's condition was paramount to any other feelings. Distantly, her mind made a note of this. She was quickly treading into dangerous waters with the princess. Dangerous, enticing, scary waters.

With a jolt, the ferry pushed off from the docks and they were on their way.  _Just twenty minutes and I'll be there. Everything is fine._

A cold mass of air rushed at Ty Lee, chilling her to the bone. She turned her back to the wind and waited out the rest of the ride hunched over, clutching her sides.

_Finally,_ the ferry docked at the little port by the hospital and Ty Lee again started on a jog towards the building. She cut the time it normally took to get there in half and passed the security points, rushing through the front door, past a bewildered secretary, and down the hall to the patient care room where Dr. Liu said they would be.

She burst through the door and found the doctor standing by a bed at the rear of the otherwise empty room. Ty Lee, chest heaving from the run and a cramp stabbing her left side, approached him. Trying not to sound overly worried, she greeted the man and focused her eyes on the princess.

Azula looked… fine. Ty Lee was a little surprised to see how normal she appeared. She was sleeping, covered in a fleecy white blanket and looking utterly relaxed. The doctor, on the other hand, appeared not to have slept.

"Lady Ty Lee, I'm glad you could make it."

"What happened to her?"

The doctor gestured to a chair near Azula's bed and Ty Lee took a seat, tossing her jacket over it, while he fetched another one from a neighboring bed. He drew the curtains around the three of them so they could speak privately.

"Well, as I said in the letter, Azula was able to conjure lightning in her cell late last night. Our healer doesn't think she was hit directly from the blast, but her leg did suffer more severe injuries from being in contact with the metal floor when the lightning struck. The wounds are okay!" he quickly added at a look from Ty Lee. "But they are still serious. We must keep a close eye on her for the time being. I've taken the liberty of making a few changes to her cell downstairs, where she'll still be kept. But it hopefully will be less conductive after today."

Ty Lee looked at him relieved, but with a thousand questions blossoming in her mind, "How did she  _do_  this? I knew she could bend down there, but it was just a tiny little orange flame. How could she make lightning?"

Dr. Liu shook his head, clearly as baffled as she was, "I'm not sure. That's something I'd like to ask her once she wakes up." He looked down at Azula, "Hopefully that will be soon. The painkillers we gave her last night will probably wear off shortly and I need her as alert as possible for my questions."

"Do you know why she might do this? She-she wasn't trying to kill herself, was she?" That particular thought had been at the forefront of Ty Lee's mind since the early morning.  _She would never do something like that. But she's been stuck here for so long… maybe the hopelessness finally got to her._

"I don't believe so," he looked hesitantly at Ty Lee. "She mentioned her father before she lost consciousness yesterday. I think she may have hallucinated his presence and been attacked by him. But we all know Ozai was not in the cell last night, so we can conclude it was Azula that conjured the lightning, unknowingly using it against her very self."

_Oh how awful._ Being attacked by your own hallucinations sounded terrifying. Ty Lee stared at Azula and put her hand over the princess's.

"You love her, don't you?" Dr. Liu's voice was gentle as he asked the question.

She didn't avert her gaze from the princess, but felt a tiny flush cover her cheeks for a moment, "I think so. I think I have for a while."

"I'm glad to hear that. Azula has so few people fighting in her corner," he looked sadly at the two of them.

They sat quietly for a few moments. But soon the doctor's last comment sparked a question from Ty Lee. She turned to look at his somber expression, "Why didn't you want me to say anything to Zuko?"

He pressed a finger to his chin, "To be frank, I don't believe the Fire Lord currently has his sister's best interest in mind. I certainly haven't helped the situation by following all of his orders, but what choice did I have? I could not disobey my Fire Lord and risk them replacing me with another doctor, one who knows nothing about Azula's tendencies. Or worse, one who wishes to harm her." He paused, "But I am doing something now. It is perhaps a breach of orders, but I believe the Fire Lord would only tighten the security on his sister after this incident. He may suggest more flagrantly unfair treatments. I've told him many times that these won't help her. And so I decided to contact you instead, I think you may be a good chance for Azula's recovery."

Ty Lee was saddened to hear the doctor's opinions about Zuko, though she had been thinking similar things recently. She desperately hoped he would come around, start visiting his sister again, try to mend the shreds of their relationship. But she was not confident that would happen soon. And she definitely knew Azula wouldn't be keen on such a thing anyways.

"Will you be okay watching over her? I have some other patients to attend to, but will return for her healing session this afternoon. She's been stable all night, but if something happens, our healer Minah's office is just across the hall."

Ty Lee nodded and Dr. Liu walked out of the little room, down the hallway.

She sat next to Azula in silence, putting her face in her hands and losing herself in thoughts of how everything used to be and how it all was now. What she wouldn't give to go back and relive the days of chasing the Avatar with her two best friends.  _Sure it wasn't glamorous like capital life, and Azula was… challenging and mean and cold,_  she touched the spot on her wrist where a burn had been weeks earlier,  _but those days were still fun. Nothing was as complicated as it was now and—_

"Finally, I thought he'd never leave."

Ty Lee launched herself off of her chair and squealed in terror. She clapped a hand over her mouth and looked down incredulously at Azula, a perfectly awake and conscious Azula. Eyeing the hallway, Ty Lee was relieved to find no one approaching, and she quickly crossed the room to shut the door. She returned to Azula's side and pulled the curtains around them again, before settling gently next to her on the edge of the bed.

"You were awake this whole time?!"

Azula looked positively amused. Her mouth curled into a small grin, "No. Just long enough to hear about my dear brother's lack of concern for me."

Ty Lee was relieved Azula had missed her little love admission. She lightly batted the princess on the shoulder, "Ugh, you almost gave me a heart attack! How are you feeling? Spirits, Azula, what  _happened_?"

Azula tossed the blanket off of her left side and Ty Lee finally saw the extensive bandaging that wrapped its way up her entire left leg. The princess quickly tore at the gauze, wanting to see the damage, but Ty Lee grabbed her wrists to stop her.

"Don't! Dr. Liu said you have to be really careful about it." She frowned, "Hey, answer my questions!"

"My leg hurts. It's like my nerves are on fire. Last night I was…" she stared blankly down at her leg and whispered almost to herself, "No, that can't be right."

"Don't you, um, remember what happened?" Ty Lee asked carefully.

Azula's eyes were distant, replaying something Ty Lee could not see. Her brow was furrowed in an odd mix of concentration and confusion, a trait not often seen on her face, "It doesn't make any sense. What did Kai say happened?"

Ty Lee saw Azula's eyes flick her way. She wasn't sure she wanted to be the one to tell her Dr. Liu's theory, but then again, maybe it would be better coming from her than from the doctor.

"You imagined your father attacking you, but really you just hit yourself with lightning in your cell."

The princess's eyes narrowed, "How could I do that? I can't even bend my regular fire down there, let alone lightni—" She trailed off suddenly. After a moment she spoke slowly, as if trying to make herself understand, "Father wasn't there. He was a hallucination. Obviously he wasn't there. So it  _must_  have been me that conjured the lightning. But he was attacking me. He choked me."

Azula pulled her hair over one of her shoulders, raised her hand to her shoulder and tugged her shirt away from her neck. Ty Lee gasped as she saw the bright purple marks.

"Dr. Liu didn't mention those."

Azula mimed a choking motion, her fingers aligning perfectly with the bruises already planted there. Again she spoke, half to herself, "So I did that too. But why wouldn't he go away? Why was that one so real?" She looked up in horror at Ty Lee, realizing what she was mumbling out loud.

"I-I don't know, Azula. I think if you tell Dr. Liu, he can help you with uh, managing them," Ty Lee slowly lowered Azula's hand from her neck. "We want to help you, you know."

The princess huffed, withdrawing her hand from Ty Lee's and crossing her arms. She closed her eyes and sat for several moments, thinking. Soon, her mouth twitched into a smirk. When she opened her eyes again, she was a completely different person. Golden irises were bright and she wore an expression of gleeful disbelief instead of the defeated one that graced her features a moment before.

"I generated lightning. That far underground,  _lightning_!" she let out an unrestrained cackle.

Ty Lee rolled her eyes.  _Of course she doesn't want to face the way too real hallucination she had, instead she focuses on the impossible thing she accomplished_.

Azula flexed her hands, "I still have my skills, they've just been buried for so long. And I would never have thought to try and conjure lightning. The cell is made of metal and I'm not an idiot. This is…  _perfect_." Her eyes sparkled brilliantly, heart racing with excitement. Ty Lee gaped at her.

"Shouldn't you be more worried that you did it on accident? Like, you didn't even mean to do it! You thought your father did it! You won't try and do it again, right? Oh, Azula,  _please_ don't try to do it again. You were really lucky that you weren't hurt way worse—"

She was cut off by a pair of perfect lips against hers.

"Shut up. Don't ruin this for me," Azula snapped before kissing her again. She dragged the woman closer to her on the bed, one hand twisting itself in Ty Lee's braid. Gently she pulled and Ty Lee's head tilted back a bit. Azula attacked her throat, nipping at all of the places she knew would elicit sweet sounds from the woman.

She wasn't disappointed. Ty Lee's breath hitched at the sudden sensation of Azula's mouth traveling along the delicate skin of her neck and she whimpered quietly. During their recent brief activities in Azula's cell, the princess had always been restrained, so Ty Lee was the bold one. But now, Azula's arms were free to roam about the former acrobat's body.

"Ooh, Azula, we should t-take it easy with you injured," Ty Lee only spoke the words to try and convince herself. But she recognized that they were completely alone for the first time in forever, with no time restraint, and no physical restraints.

The princess purred into her neck, "I really don't think so." She released Ty Lee's braid and moved her hands down the woman's sides, feeling the outline of her body.

Ty Lee felt the princess's hands toy with the hem of her shirt. Azula's breath was scorching on her neck, her shoulder, her jaw, her lips. She was not surprised to feel the air of the room touch her bare stomach as Azula lifted the shirt over her head.

"We shouldn't do this here, someone could walk in. The-the healer or Dr. Liu," Ty Lee was finding it hard to make up reasons to stop while Azula's mouth licked down to the swell of her breasts.

The princess paused, nipping her way up Ty Lee's neck. She clutched the girl's face in her hand and pressed her mouth against Ty Lee's ear. Azula tugged at the lobe with her teeth, whispering hotly, "Do you want me to stop?"

Ty Lee's eyes were closed, "No."

"Good."

After her second feeble attempt to get Azula to slow down, Ty Lee stopped and gave in to desire.

Azula returned to pay attention to Ty Lee's ample chest. She was wearing a white bra with lacy pink details. The princess refrained from rolling her eyes at the color choice and instead focused on tugging down the obstructing material. Ty Lee stifled her moan at the feel of Azula's mouth enclosing around her nipple. She tossed her head back, long braid swishing against her spine.

Ty Lee lifted a hand to curve around the back of Azula's head, encouraging her actions.  _Oh Agni, I've missed this_. She'd gone more than four years without Azula's touch.

The princess switched to the other nipple, palming the soft flesh with one hand as the other slid over the toned contours of Ty Lee's stomach, lower, and lower until…

" _Ohh_ ," Ty Lee managed to breathe out when the princess's hand started rubbing a particularly sensitive area. She pulled Azula's head away from her chest and messily kissed her, sucking at her bottom lip. A little moan broke the kiss and Ty Lee looked at Azula. She was staring back with darkened eyes, need clearly written across her face.

Suddenly Ty Lee was struck with a thought: it had been greater than four years since she'd been touched by Azula, but she'd still seen some action. Azula, on the other hand, hadn't been touched by anyone in that time. Ty Lee thought she was overdue for some fun.

She crawled atop the princess on the narrow little bed. Azula's left leg was bandaged so heavily that she could not bend it, and it lay flat on the mattress. Her other leg was bent at the knee and Ty Lee gently spread it wider to accommodate her body.

She kissed Azula again, long and slow, trying to communicate everything she had never said out loud to the princess.  _I'm sorry how this all ended up. It kills me that you're in here. I probably love you._ Ty Lee placed feather light kisses along the bruises of Azula's neck, as if that would somehow miraculously heal them. She ran her hand from Azula's cheek, across her chest, past her protruding hip bones, pushing up the hem of the light shift she wore, to explore the apex of her thighs.

Azula closed her eyes at the contact and gently moved her hips while Ty Lee applied more pressure. They kissed, Azula's breaths coming in slightly shorter intervals than before. Ty Lee was dying to hear any vocal reaction from Azula. It was always one of her personal challenges to set free a magnificent groan from the normally carefully controlled and composed woman.

Before Azula had time to realize what was about to happen, Ty Lee dipped her hand beneath the waistband of Azula's underwear. She found the princess slick and wanting. A brief thought about Mai crashed through her mind, but she quickly suppressed it. _Not now. Not now._

Azula leaned back into her pillow, back arching slightly. Ty Lee slid her fingers along Azula's center and slowly pushed one digit inside.

Both of them exhaled at the action. Ty Lee found that even with only one finger, Azula was  _tight_. A shiver spread down her spine while she sped up her pace, moving in and out. She could feel her own desire pooling in her abdomen, but she could wait. Right now, Azula needed this more than she did.

Ty Lee continued her motions below and resumed kissing and licking the princess's jawline and collarbone. She was careful not to be too rough, the bruising that circled Azula's neck looked awfully sore. But if Azula was in any discomfort from neck or leg pain, she was not showing it. Her eyes were shut, brow crinkled in rising pleasure. Her hair splayed out on the pillow.  _So beautiful_. Ty Lee pulled back to watch her. Azula's hips still ground in a steady, but quickening rhythm.

The former acrobat knew she needed release and quickly shifted her fingers from curling inside of the princess, to circling her clit. Azula's response was immediate. Her hips bucked upwards and her mouth fell slightly open in a hastened sigh. Ty Lee captured her lips and Azula weakly kissed her back through her shallow breaths. Soon, whimpers were regularly escaping Azula's mouth and Ty Lee moved faster.

Within a minute or two of the increased pace, Azula's back arched, her hips twitched wildly, and Ty Lee finally heard the sound she was craving. Azula produced a low, quiet moan that flamed Ty Lee's arousal. Their eyes locked as the princess was coaxed down from her high. Ty Lee leaned down to kiss Azula again, feeling her hips jolt in erratic aftershocks as she removed her hand from its position.

For a few moments afterwards, Ty Lee gently toyed with Azula's long, dark hair, brushing it away from her face and placing light kisses on the top of her head.

She lay down next to Azula, uncertain of how this most recent coupling affected their super-complicated-barely-hanging-on relationship. It was way too soon to ask her about it, so for now Ty Lee just enjoyed lying next to the princess, savoring the little feeling of pride that she could get Princess Azula to shake and moan.

After her breathing slowed, Azula turned her half-closed eyes to look at Ty Lee. Her face looked conflicted and she wondered what the princess was thinking. Leaning forward, Ty Lee kissed her softly again.

Azula blinked slowly, "The shampoo is... I... like it."

Ty Lee couldn't help breaking out into a giggle and quickly put her hand over her mouth at Azula's annoyed expression. She knew that was probably an attempt to say thank you and that it took a lot to say it. So Ty Lee ignored how ridiculous it sounded and scooched closer, tracing little circles on Azula's shoulder.

"You're welcome. I thought you would like the scent, it's very princess-y. But it took me forever to pick out. You should have seen this place, it was gorgeous! They had like a thousand different perfumes and shampoos and nail polishes," Ty Lee rambled for a solid five minutes about the amazing new spa she visited to purchase the shampoo. The princess surprisingly had no abrasive retorts to offer. She lay next to Ty Lee, just watching her without speaking.

After the shampoo selection retelling, the two fell into a comfortable silence. Ty Lee brushed her thumb over Azula's cheek and stared into a golden abyss.

"You gotta stop scaring me like this."

Azula looked away, uncomfortable, but she didn't push Ty Lee out of her space, "You scare too easily. I'm fine."

"You're not fine. You struck yourself with lightning. You burn yourself. And they freeze you," Ty Lee was concerned. "I worry about you all the time. I'm scared I'll get a letter one day saying you went too far."

Azula snorted, "That won't happen. I'm not  _stupid_."

"Of course you aren't, but… last night could have been really bad. What if you took the full force of the blast? It was an accident, and you didn't realize you were doing it, but that's what makes me the most nervous," Ty Lee turned Azula's face back towards her. "I don't want to lose you for good. Dr. Liu can help you with this stuff more than I can."

Azula stiffened under Ty Lee's touch, "I'm not going to share my feelings with some peasant doctor."

"He just wants to help you get better. Don't you want to get better?"

The princess thought. A life without vicious hallucinations and realistic nightmares wouldn't be a bad thing. But the price at which that might come was steep. Communicating her innermost feelings to someone working directly at her brother's hand? Foolish. Besides, she didn't even know what her innermost feelings were half the time. And who knew if cooperating would really keep these occurrences at bay? Or for how long?

"Please, won't you just maybe try a tiny bit with him?" Ty Lee's eyes plead at her. Azula was disheartened to find how much she wanted to give in.

"I am not talking to him about feelings. I will only talk about what I hallucinate."

Ty Lee pouted, "Well I guess that's okay." She changed the subject quickly, not wanting Azula to get too angry. "You've got a healing session soon, I think. Do you want me to stay for it? Or I could go find some lunch, I haven't eaten yet."

Azula placed a hand on her stomach, "I'm hungry, bring some food back."

Ty Lee smiled and pecked Azula's cheek, "Okay, I dunno where the kitchen is. Hopefully I can find a guard, there's only like two up here!" She sat up, pulling her shirt on.

Azula absorbed that tidbit of information quickly. She lay on her bed and watched as Ty Lee bounded away to find food.


	13. Chapter 13

Alone with her thoughts, Azula reached out to pull the gap in the curtains shut and sat back against her pillow. She felt more relaxed than she had in a long time after that little escapade with Ty Lee. Unfortunately, her mind was making it difficult to remain that way for long.

_I shouldn't have done that. I need to stay distanced from her. It's wrong. She betrayed me. I can't forgive her just because of temporary physical relief._

_It's tempting though. She brings me nice things and seems to want to help. But how can I trust her ever again? I can't. She could be playing her own games. I can't forget what she did._

She closed her eyes, conflicted. Stupid Ty Lee and her convincing charm. Nothing but inner turmoil would come from that endless thought cycle, so Azula switched her focus to the more delightful discovery of the day: lightning.

She was still shaken from the experience last night, but felt elated about the lightning. Now that she was alone, on the ground floor, in a fairly warm room, Azula quickly bent a flame to test her abilities.

Delicious warmth coursed through her veins and a calmly flickering flame blossomed to life in her palm. A  _blue_ flickering flame. Azula felt relief as a weight lifted from her mind. She still had it. She hadn't known how terrified she was at the thought of losing her bending signature. Sitting in the bed, she stared at the dancing blue light for several minutes. It reawakened an old sense of pride and confidence in her abilities that she hadn't felt in years.

But now… she quelled the flame. Her heart beat quickly in anticipation for this next test. Lightning was all about energy and a clear mind. In the past it came naturally to her, somehow even during the comet, and apparently it came naturally during undesired times as well.

She took a breath to calm herself. Mind blank. Eyes open, focused. She felt the positive and negative energies separate. And when they rejoined, she saw the sparks emit from her fingertips.

Azula grinned madly. She played with the small but dangerous current, glancing around for a place to shoot it. Eventually she released the little bolt at the exposed corner of her bedframe. It sizzled and sparked, but did not erupt in flame.

Again she leaned back against her pillow, conjuring the cerulean warmth in her palm. Lightning generation was primarily about separation and reunion of yin and yang. Fire power was clearly influenced by temperature and obviously one's breathing, which was why she was so weak in the cooler. But the energies of yin and yang were  _always_  present, be it in the palace courtyard on a bright day, or a cold cell six floors underground. Azula was certain that was why she was able to conjure such a blast under those conditions.

This was a magnificent discovery. If they allowed her back in her old cell and the iron bars showed signs of weakening, Azula was confident she could break them with a well-placed lightning strike. Her ludicrous scheme was looking more plausible with each day. She only had to make sure she continued eating and training. And to somehow keep hallucinations away.

She brought her flameless hand up to gently touch her neck. Perhaps Kai  _could_  offer some remedy to keeping them away. She regrettably hadn't been able to do anything on her own. If it improved her chances of escaping this place, then maybe she should try. No matter how much it made her stomach churn.  _Trust is for fools_.

The curtain around her bed was pulled open suddenly and Azula quickly put out the fire in her hand. Ty Lee was too focused on setting down a tray towering with food to notice the action.

"I didn't know what you wanted, so I just asked for some of everything!" she smiled happily.

Azula eyed the stack of plates and bowls, "I said I was hungry, not that I wanted to eat the entire kitchen."

"Yeah, yeah, but you're so thin, I think you could use a big meal," grinning, she sat next to Azula again and rapidly pointed at all of the various dishes she had ordered.

"This one's just plain rice. This one is spicy rice and flame roasted komodo chicken. This is a bunch of vegetables, green beans and cabbage and carrots and peas. This is bread. There's a little spicy pepper dipping sauce, it's really hot though so maybe don't eat that. There's water and tea. This is some weird cold soup, but you can always heat it up if you want, you know, 'cause you're a firebender."

Azula was staring at Ty Lee as she listed the food and couldn't help a slight scoff at that obvious comment, "Oh I  _am_? I had no idea. Better alert the guards, I don't think they knew they were dealing with a  _firebender_."

Ty Lee scrunched her nose up and put her hands on her hips in mock anger, "Don't be rude. I just brought you enough food for like three days."

The princess rolled her eyes, "Yes, I can see that." She reached out to take a pair of chopsticks and begin nibbling away at some rice, but Ty Lee caught her wrist. Azula raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"No 'thank you'? I came all the way out here to make sure you were still alive, I gave you a pleasurable little present this time," she smiled as Azula shifted uncomfortably, "and I brought you a pile of food. I think I deserve a thank you." She tilted her head and pouted.

Azula glared at her. Her tongue was holding back a thousand retorts, including the thank you that Ty Lee wanted for whatever reason. She clenched her jaw and instead of saying anything, briefly kissed the girl in front of her. Ty Lee momentarily froze. Kisses from the princess always left her a little shell-shocked. Azula seized the opportunity and yanked her wrist back, clutching the chopsticks. She grabbed the bowl of rice and meat and started eating before the other woman could steal it away.

Ty Lee pouted again at Azula's diversionary tactics and took up the second pair of chopsticks to pick at some of the yummy looking food. They ate with Ty Lee inserting comments into the silence about the meal and whatever else came to mind.

Azula admittedly was not paying much attention. She was still thinking about the lightning and what happened last night. Her eyes grew distant as she mindlessly chewed whatever new dish she selected. When Ty Lee shook her shoulder after a few moments, Azula looked up and found Kai, and who she assumed to be the healer, standing at the foot of her bed.

"It's good to see you're awake and responsive. With an appetite too," Kai's mouth twitched as if he wanted to smile, but he held back. "Minah is here to examine your leg and provide another session of treatment. Would you mind, uh," he gestured to the stack of dishes on the tray in her lap. Azula didn't move and continued eating from the bowl of vegetables in her hand. Ty Lee took the hint and quickly picked the tray up, placing it on a little side table.

Minah approached Azula's bandaged leg and gently began undoing the extensive gauze wrappings. The rustling of the material sent shockwaves through the princess's nerves. Her face remained impassive, she'd been through worse.

Azula's eyes narrowed in distaste at the obvious waterbender caring for her. The dark skin and blue eyes were out of place in the Fire Nation.

"Why haven't I seen you before?" Azula spoke harshly.

"I've worked here for two years, but you've never had serious enough injuries to warrant a visit from me," Minah's voice was as fluid as the element she bent. Azula hated it.

"So why are you here?"

The healer paused in removing the bandage. She pulled over the same cart of supplies she had used on the princess last night and checked to make sure everything she needed was there, "Because now you have a serious enough injury. I'm afraid Dr. Liu isn't quite qualified enough to heal deep tissue wounds. Superficial scratches are more up his alley." She smiled kindly at the doctor.

Azula handed the now empty bowl to Ty Lee, who looked nervously at her. She knew Azula wasn't the biggest fan of waterbenders. And she could sense the clear dislike slowly permeating the air.

"No. I mean why are you  _here_ , in the Fire Nation?" The princess's voice was cold.

Kai interrupted, "We don't have to talk about this now, let's proceed with the healing."

Minah straightened her back and looked Azula in the eyes for the first time. Dark blue versus gleaming gold. The healer couldn't help thinking how entrancing the woman's eyes were, how much power and intelligence they hid. The stories she'd heard about the princess all seemed plausible at that moment.

"It's alright, doctor, I don't mind. After the war ended, the Fire Lord sent out an offer for professionals from other nations to come join the workforce here. My skill set proved to be a valuable enough one and I was hired at a small hospital in the colonies. I gained attention through my abilities and this facility requested I join them. So here I am," Minah stood her ground, but she felt like shrinking away from Azula's gaze. For just a young woman, she gave off an awful presence.

Azula sneered in disbelief. Her brother invited their enemies to work for them. Who knew how many had already found places in the capital? Or worse, in the  _palace_. Spreading around like little leeches. Mingling with the Fire Nation. And all at the hand of dear Zuzu. Azula glared at this woman and was pleased to find that she looked away first.

The gauze was finally off and Azula got a good look at her leg for the first time. It was strange. There were several thin, dark red zigzags originating at her toes and fading up past her knee. Her foot was beet red, but the color faded into a lighter, splotchy pink above her ankle and up her calf. She frowned at the injury. Ty Lee was right: this was just a contact wound, if she'd taken the full blast, it would have been much worse.

She glanced over at the former acrobat, who was staring wide-eyed at Azula's leg. It looked like a weird, twisted sugar flame cane. The thought was unsettling and Ty Lee averted her gaze while Minah bent some water out of the vase on her cart.

Azula clenched her teeth at the feeling of her leg being enveloped in cool liquid. It felt  _wrong_. So incredibly wrong. Her heart beat faster and she could feel her throat tighten at the sudden memory of being encased in ice on the day of the comet.

Wildly, she glanced all around the room, reminding herself that she was fine. This peasant was healing her in the same hospital she'd been in for four years. She certainly wasn't in an arena trapped in the ice of a different water peasant.

Kai was watching her closely. He saw her body stiffen and her breaths quickened.  _She looks on the verge of a panic attack_.

Ty Lee noticed as well and took Azula's twitching hand, moving closer to her side. A warmth was gathering there that warned what Azula was thinking of doing. Ty Lee quickly squeezed and shook her head, whispering so the others wouldn't hear, "Don't. You're alright, she's not going to hurt you."

Azula shut her eyes tightly and sat stiffly upright on the bed while Minah worked the glowing blue water over her skin. Ty Lee thought she could feel Azula's heartbeat pounding through her hand. But the princess did not attack. She endured the healer's waterbending and within another ten minutes of absolute tension, the water was guided back into its vase and Minah took out fresh ointments and gauze to wrap the now considerably less pink leg.

"I'll do it," Ty Lee held her hands out to take the materials from the healer. She didn't want to risk Azula lashing out.

Minah hesitated but eventually passed the jar and roll of gauze over to her, "Be gentle applying this. Put a thin layer over the entire leg and wrap it completely in gauze to keep the injury concealed."

Ty Lee nodded and Kai dismissed Minah. He noticed Azula tilt her head back in obvious relief at being out of the waterbender's presence. The creeping bruises on her neck were exposed for a moment and Kai wrinkled his brow, having not seen them the night before.

"What happened to your neck?"

Azula looked back at him, "Father choked me. Or rather, I choked myself."

"I didn't notice those marks last night."

"Well, that's the interesting thing about bruises, they take a little time to show up," she rolled her eyes. "I suspect they'll become even  _more_  visible within the next few days. Now, where did I leave my doctor's license?" She mimed patting herself down. Ty Lee suppressed a laugh.

Kai did not react, "I see. Minah could have healed those for you too. At least taken the tenderness out of them—"

"No," Azula cut him off and eyed him with a look of pure venom. The thought of water surrounding her neck was almost enough to send her back into a panic.

Kai shrugged, "I suppose they'll heal just fine on their own. Now, I do have a few questions for you about last night. Do you mind if I begin?"

Azula considered, tapping a finger on her lips, "Yes. I do mind. You may talk to me once Ty Lee leaves."

A look of annoyance briefly crossed the doctor's face, but he supposed he understood. He doubted she would forget the details of last night anytime soon.

"Alright. Ty Lee, please alert me before you leave. I will be in my office." He turned and left the two girls alone once again.

Ty Lee walked around the bed to settle in a chair on the princess's left side. Azula sighed and watched Ty Lee dip her hand into the clear, odorless jelly that she began to spread over her foot. It was cooling. An odd feeling, like there was a constant breeze on her skin.

Ty Lee scooped up some more jelly and applied it gently along the jagged lines where the lightning spread. The smooth skin felt hotter than normal, like the bolt still lay dormant beneath it. Ty Lee frowned.  _She's had too many injuries in this place_.

And the princess had wanted to inflict some of her own on the healer. Ty Lee supposed that was because of the water girl on the Avatar's side. She'd only heard rumors of that day. After all, Zuko and the waterbender were the only ones present during the comet fight and they didn't exactly share what had happened. So no one had ever told her details about Azula's takedown. And she didn't dare ask the princess, no matter how curious she was. Focusing on massaging the gel into Azula's damaged leg, she cleared her mind.

Azula lay back into her pillow and relaxed at the touch. It was not unpleasant, though she would never say that out loud. She was surprised Ty Lee wasn't blabbing about something. The unusual silence was welcome and Azula took the chance to rest.

_Oh_. Eyes fluttered open after a few minutes. Ty Lee's hands had made their way up her leg and now she was massaging and rubbing her thigh. Very high up on her thigh. Above where the ointment needed application. She shifted at the gentle touches.

Ty Lee hadn't  _meant_ to make this sexual. She really hadn't, but the further and further up the princess's leg she touched, the further and further her mind sank into the gutter. Earlier she'd dipped her toe into the dangerously addicting pool of sex with Azula. Hours later she was already in over her head, desiring everything and anything they'd missed out on for years.

She scooched her chair closer to the head of the bed and stilling her hand on Azula's thigh, pressed her lips to the princess's. Azula barely responded, mind racing with the conflicting opinions from earlier.  _Don't give in. It's wrong, but… Twice in one day doesn't matter, right? It just can't happen again after today._

Ty Lee was pulling back, sensing the disinterest in Azula's body language, until she was suddenly yanked forward by her shirt, kissing a much more engaged princess. She smiled into the kiss and clambered on top of her, straddling her waist. Ty Lee grasped the back of Azula's head and slid her tongue along the woman's bottom lip.

The kiss deepened, the room grew hotter, and the women were latched onto each other like it was their last day alive. Ty Lee groaned when Azula ran her tongue along her neck, grazing teeth along her collarbone. She could feel the heat rising through her body.

"Azula, can you…?" she felt a little guilty asking to be repaid for her actions earlier in the day, but Ty Lee hadn't been able to shake the arousal since that morning. And now, she found it impossible to ignore.

She felt Azula's hand leave its place at her hip and trail lower. Ty Lee moaned softly, leaning backwards as she ground her hips into the touch. Azula's hand quickly moved beneath her pants, finally making that sinfully sweet skin on skin contact.

Ty Lee threw her head back, eyebrows knit in delight. She moved against Azula's hand and shuddered when the princess bit at her neck and shoulder. Azula had never been all that gentle with respect to bedroom activities, and Ty Lee was glad that the hospital kept her nails short when she felt two fingers enter her.

Another moan from the woman clad in pink. Azula moved up to reclaim Ty Lee's lips, tugging at the bottom one with her teeth. She continued pushing Ty Lee towards that inevitable ledge, mouth traveling from lips to neck and back again, hand exploring every inch of the young woman's most intimate places, places she hadn't been able to touch for a long time.

Soon Ty Lee's hips ground faster, more desperately, as she clung to her princess. Breathy whispers and pleas found their way into Azula's ear and she sped up the pace of her fingers, sliding out and up to rub a certain spot. Ty Lee was panting slightly now, eyes half-shut. A few more minutes of the princess's quickening fingers and Ty Lee thrust her arms back to steady herself. Letting out a series of little moans that were much too loud, she hit the release she was craving.

Her head cleared from its cloud of bliss and she looked at Azula, horrified to find the princess pale and wincing with her eyes squeezed shut. Confused, she sat up and removed her hands from where they grasped Azula's legs.

_Oh no_.

She turned to look at the princess's injured leg and saw little half-moon marks where her nails had dug and scratched into the strangely patterned flesh, "O-oh my gosh, I'm sorry! I-I didn't realize…" Her skin burned in embarrassment and she took Azula's face into her hands to kiss her forehead and cheeks, "I didn't mean to, I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine, I'm fine,  _get off_ ," she grumbled and Ty Lee hurried back to her chair, smoothing her clothes as she did so. Azula reached down and brushed her fingers over the nail marks, trying to rub some of the ointment already on her leg into them.

"I'm really—"

"I know. Stop, just… just finish wrapping this up," Azula slumped backwards, annoyed.

Ty Lee was still tingling slightly from the high she so recently experienced, but she sobered quickly while covering Azula's leg in the gauze. She sighed to herself.  _Something always happens to wreck the nice moments_.

She gently rolled the bandages around Azula's leg, tucking in the ends so it wouldn't come undone. When she finished, she rested her hands on Azula's knee. The mood in the room had rapidly soured.

Despite herself, Ty Lee desperately wanted to talk about what happened between Azula and Mai, to know more specifically what they had done. Even though she knew the princess would certainly be annoyed at her bringing it up. Even though she trusted Mai's word about them not sleeping together. Her brain couldn't help picturing her two friends doing all sorts of things, especially after what she and Azula had just done. Ty Lee opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted before she could begin.

"Why did you leave Kyoshi Island?"

Azula was lying in the bed, eyes lazily staring at the ceiling. Her long hair was faintly disheveled from when Ty Lee was gripping her head in the heat of the moment. She was trying to look uninterested, but Ty Lee could tell she wanted to hear this answer. She ignored the thoughts of Mai and responded honestly.

"I guess I felt like my time there was over. There wasn't anything new to learn anymore after four years. At first we spent a lot of time rebuilding the village and harbors of the island. And then my role there was basically just to maintain and patrol the town. It's turned into a little trading port now that the war is over. But it got boring, I guess. Train. Build. Patrol. Sleep. Over and over again. The girls were really nice and accepting, but..."

"You were part of a matched set again."

Ty Lee looked away, "Y-yeah." She picked at her nails and continued, "I got a few updates about you from Zuko while I was on the island. It brought up all kinds of old memories and things... I started to worry. I tried so hard to move on, but obviously that didn't work out. Eventually I knew I had to come back."

Azula didn't move, but her eyes drifted from the ceiling to Ty Lee's face.

"You were my best friend, Azula. Even after everything that happened, I couldn't just leave you to rot in a mental institute. I had to at least see you," Ty Lee smiled sadly.

Azula's mind raced. Confliction. Indecision. Betrayal. Hurt. Ty Lee came back to her because she cared about her. But if she cared about her, why betray her in the first place? The words escaped her mouth before she could stop them.

"But you did leave, just like everyone else."

Ty Lee quickly shifted her gaze back to Azula and saw the same look in her eyes that she had at the Boiling Rock. Pure hurt. It made her guilt flare up again.

She clasped Azula's hand, "I had to stop you. In a fight between you and Mai? You could have killed her. I care about both of you, I had to do it for both of you."

Azula looked away, "I wouldn't have killed her. Injured her probably, but not killed her. What good would that do? It wouldn't teach her anything. Prison was a better punishment."

Ty Lee was a bit shocked at that. She knew Mai had always assumed that if Ty Lee hadn't intervened, one of the two of them would have ended up dead. Hearing that Azula didn't plan on killing Mai was surprising. Then again, the princess had conquered a previously unconquerable city without taking any lives. Ty Lee forgot that Azula's practicality and calculative nature usually won out over the more bloody solutions one might expect.

"No one knew that. I couldn't take the chance," she squeezed Azula's hand before the princess hastily pulled away.

"No. Of course not," she withdrew into herself, all signs of vulnerability gone.

Ty Lee sighed quietly. She stood and walked around the bed to where the tray of food rested on a little table. Tearing off a piece of bread, she sat on her original chair and chewed in the heavy silence of the room.

She was still saddened to find Azula so affected by these issues of the past. But, had the same thing happened to her, if she was a princess of the Fire Nation, she supposed she could understand. Not to mention the even worse thought that Azula was right: everyone in her life seemed to just be idle passersby. An innocent enough start of bonding with her, being in awe of her skills, but soon turned off by her personality and cruelty, enough to walk out of her life, leaving her alone again.

Azula didn't even have the support of her own family anymore. Her mother's whereabouts were still unknown, though most suspected she died years ago. Her father turned her away, giving her the throwaway title of Fire Lord while apparently crowning himself Phoenix King, and now he spent his days powerless in a prison cell. Her Uncle, from what Ty Lee saw, never really cared for Azula, clearly favoring Zuko. She heard he had visited his niece once or twice, but those quickly halted.

Her brother… Ty Lee wasn't sure. She knew deep down, Zuko had to still care about Azula. They'd both been raised by the same power hungry man and so he had to sympathize with what she probably went through. Though while Zuko had Iroh to fall back on, Azula only had Ozai. And now Zuko had the title his sister had craved for her entire life. It only rubbed salt in her extensive wounds. Ty Lee wondered if they'd ever be able to reconcile.

She finished the bread and took a sip of some now very cold tea, "Do you, um, do you ever want Zuko to visit?"

Azula raised her head and instantly her brows furrowed in distaste, "No. And I think he's made it very clear that he doesn't want to see me either."

Ty Lee said words that she hoped wouldn't get her burnt to a crisp, "But you never really made an effort to try and get along when he came here—"

Azula's mouth fell open in incredulity. She let out a strained laugh, "You're not serious? You can't be serious. He doesn't deserve an  _effort_. He turned on my country multiple times. He blamed me for all of his faults with Father. He threw me in this place with no intention of ever letting me out. And now I know he's endorsed freezing as some sort of just punishment for a few burns. As far as I'm concerned, Zuko and I were finished as soon as he left the Fire Nation before the comet. He was never on my side."

"He's your only brother."

"He's an idiot and I don't need him," she exhaled, briefly entertaining the idea of shooting more lightning at Zuko and adding to his collection of scars. "Any other questions?" she spat out.

_Might as well._  "Why do you burn yourself? I know it isn't for sexual release," Ty Lee rolled her eyes at the memory.

Azula didn't want to get into this topic. She hadn't wanted to have such a seriously terrible conversation with Ty Lee at all. She wished she'd been ruder with her answers. Perhaps Ty Lee would have gotten angry and stormed out earlier, but she was being annoyingly persistent today.

Azula decided to stick with her previously crafted story, "I already told you. They're accidents, from nightmares."

"Oh come on Azula, you're a better liar than that."

"Obviously. So why would I make up a terrible lie?" she looked annoyed.

"I don't know," Ty Lee narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the princess. She  _supposed_ that was sort of true. Azula wouldn't waste her time with stupid lies like that. Right? Unless the stupid lie was also a lie, meant to throw her off some unknown trail.  _Ugh, why does she have to be so confusing? She's up to something, I just don't know what it is._

"Exactly. They're just burns, nothing serious,"  _and now to seal the deal_ , "Perhaps I'll talk to Kai, maybe he can help the nightmares stop."

Ty Lee perked up at that and Azula inwardly rolled her eyes.  _Easy_.

Wanting to get away from this topic, the princess continued, "Or if we're really going for terrible lies, I could tell him the burns are my own little tattoos."

"Oh  _again_? Look, I couldn't come up with anything else in the two seconds I had to think. It was the first reasonable thing that popped into my head! Besides, it worked, didn't it?" Ty Lee pouted.

"Miraculously. And only because that guard drools over you at every chance he gets."

"Whatever! You're still jealous over the attention I get from boys, aren't you? Even at that awful party we went to years ago…"

The tension of the room faded with familiar, easy talk. Ty Lee remained with Azula for several more minutes, before getting up to leave, chiding the princess gently to take care of her leg. She left the room and walked down the hall to Dr. Liu's office, sticking her head through the door to say she was leaving, and then set out to catch the ferry. Uncertainty over this most recent visit clogged up her thoughts and upon reaching the capital, Ty Lee decided that a visit to Zuko was in order.


	14. Chapter 14

Kai rose from his chair and immediately proceeded to the patient care room, where he was pleased to find Azula sipping what by now must be some very chilly tea. Until he noticed a thin trail of steam curling up from the brim of the cup and instantly was on guard: she was no longer in the cooler, her bending must be back up to speed.  _Never underestimate this woman._ Azula only looked at him once he reached the foot of her bed.

"Ready to talk?"

She rolled her eyes, "I guess I can't avoid this disaster forever, so go ahead. Ask away." Azula punctuated her words with a flick of her hand. Despite having been here for so long, she had yet to lose her haughty princess demeanor.

Kai sat in the chair recently vacated by Ty Lee. He had no paper or ink this time, choosing instead to simply observe Azula with his own two eyes.

"Well, I'd like you to tell me about the hallucination. It featured your father, yes?"

Azula licked her lips, deciding to tread down a rarely traveled path of honesty, "Yes. He appeared late, when I couldn't fall asleep. Harassing me about Ty Lee."  _Well… partial honesty._  She was not going to reveal her training routine, nor how her father scolded her for not having escaped yet. Somehow she thought that would set off alarm bells in her doctor's mind.

"I see. What did he say?" Kai was looking at her thoughtfully.

"That I shouldn't bother myself with her because of what she did to me. So I told him I knew that already and then he attacked me."

Azula's eyes grew vacant while she envisioned what happened last night for the tenth time since she awoke that morning.

"He slammed my head against the wall, then he choked me. Just before I might black out, he loosened his grip and aimed his fingers at me. And I knew... I knew what he was going to do, so I jumped to my bed to try and avoid the lightning, but I guess being cooped up for so long has slowed me down," she gestured to her injury.

For such a harrowing experience, Azula spoke very matter-of-factly. It was always a little unnerving for Kai to see a patient relive such vividly violent images.

"Then you all burst in and I…" she paused.  _I had a very sweet memory slap me in the face._

She only just remembered it now. It was some random day of her not yet tainted childhood. Father took her out to walk around the gardens. Her hair had finally grown long enough to pull back, so he'd just had the palace metalworkers fashion a new crest for her. And that was when he took her in his arms and placed it in her hair.  _"My little princess," what a load of b—_

"And you what?" Kai's voice rang through the room. Azula had zoned out, thinking about that day. She absentmindedly smoothed her hair back, heart hurting because she no longer had a royal crest of any kind, princess or Fire Lord, to wear in her hair. Kai's eyes never wavered from her face, and Azula suddenly found herself feeling terribly uncomfortable.

"And I passed out," she watched his expression while schooling her own into one of detachment. His muddy eyes blinked and he rubbed his chin in thought.

"What did he say about Ty Lee?" Kai spoke gently, like one might to soothe a child on the verge of a tantrum. This tone of voice did the opposite for Azula, she bristled at the sound.

"He wondered why I waste my time thinking about fucking her and if I just want to be coddled and loved. Idiot, he knows I don't—"

"How do you feel towards Ty Lee? Is it solely physical attraction? Do you like when she visits?" For possibly the first time, Kai had interrupted Azula. She glared at him, absolutely not wanting to answer those questions.

But she bit her tongue and cooperated for once, "I suppose it is somewhat pleasant when she visits. Since nobody else does."

He shot her a look, "Do you love her?"

"No." The response left her mouth instantly, surprising them both. She laughed madly, "How could I possibly after what she did? No."

Dr. Liu continued, despite Azula's gradually rising temper, "Have you ever thought that it is precisely because of what she did, that makes it so hard to accept your feelings for her?"

"I hate her for what she did," she maintained eye contact with Kai to make sure he understood how truthful her words were.

"But you are clearly conflicted over these emotions, judging by your father's appearance last night. I suspect part of you, a part of you that you are adamantly suppressing,  _does_  care for Ty Lee and  _does_ want those feelings to be returned. Otherwise, why would he show up to discourage those thoughts? Why would you allow her to continue visiting? However, you are still deeply hurt by the Boiling Rock incident and I'm afraid until you forgive her for that, you can't begin to address those feelings."

_Forgive her? Is he stupid?_

She cackled again, overpowering a strange pain that had arisen in her chest, "Never in my life will I forgive her."

Kai sighed and wrinkled his brow in sadness, "Then I don't think you'll be able to make the progress you desire. This inner turmoil is taking its toll on you. To accept what has happened and move forward is something you struggle with daily. I suggest you occupy some of your free time to meditation. If you start thinking critically about the things you are so desperate to avoid, I think you'll find that the hallucinations will fade."

Azula hated herself for asking, but maintained her glare to keep the illusion of disinterest, "What about the nightmares?"

The doctor stood and stretched, "All of your symptoms are connected. Straightening out your feelings will no doubt help abate the nightmares as well." He ran a hand through his dark gray hair and looked down at Azula, "Now, how is it you were able to conjure lightning last night?"

A chill of excitement spread down her spine as she remembered what she had accomplished. She was even more excited to deduce that the doctor had little knowledge of how firebending, and probably bending in general, worked.  _He doesn't know that firebending and lightning generation are completely separate techniques. Freeze the room as much as you want, Zuko, I can still bend cold-blooded fire._

She put on a mask of confusion, "I've been thinking about that too. It shouldn't have worked. I don't know why it worked." Her voice faded into silence as she pretended to ponder that which she already knew.

Kai clicked his tongue and spoke in a barely audible tone, "Hm. Well, we know it was done subconsciously. Perhaps it was a misfiring of signals in the brain caused by her hallucination." Suddenly he looked at her again, "You haven't tried doing this in your quarters before yesterday?"

Azula shook her head.

"Odd. So odd," he paced at the foot of the bed, finger running along his bottom lip in thought. Azula had to stifle another laugh.  _How did a man who knows nothing of bending get put in charge of me?_   _It's absurd._

After a minute, Kai stopped and faced Azula, "Anything else about last night that you'd like to talk about?"

_My training ritual? My escape plan?_

"No."

"Alright, then I suppose it's time to go back downstairs. Can you put weight on your foot?"

Azula hadn't gotten the chance to try yet, but judging by the sharp pains shooting up her leg just from swinging it over the side of the bed, she had a feeling the answer was no.

She put all of her weight on her right foot and gingerly touched her left foot to the ground. She winced, trying the block the pain by blinking rapidly. Azula stumbled and reached out to grasp the chair in front of her to catch herself from falling to the floor.

She gasped, "I don't think so."  _Even without taking the full blast, it hurts this much._ She could imagine tiny residual charges in her leg, activating upon movement or contact, shooting up her nerves in a white hot flash. Hopping backwards, she sat on the bed again while Kai walked across the hall.

He returned shortly with crutches and Azula clenched her jaw at having to use them. They were terribly uncomfortable and jabbed deep into her armpits.

"You really should invest in a wheelchair," she muttered through her teeth.

Kai smiled and walked beside her as she slowly made her way out of the room.

They entered the hallway and Azula got a look around at the ground floor for the first time since she entered the building over four years ago. A depressing thought to say the least, but she quickly focused her mind to pick up on other details.

They turned left out of the door, away from what she presumed was the front entrance. Behind her, she could see a woman sitting at a front desk. A door with the healer's name on it was slightly ajar. Azula guessed that was where Kai got the crutches. On this level, it seemed the metal was only exposed on the walls; a drab carpet lined the floor. A little ways down the hallway and she glimpsed a large padded room through a glass paned door. There were several people inside eating and playing what looked like Pai Sho.

She frowned and inexplicably felt a pain in her chest.

_I'm not even allowed board games._

The pair slowly progressed to the end of the hallway towards a door labeled with a staircase. Once they reached it, something Ty Lee said suddenly came to Azula's mind.  _"There's only like two guards on this whole floor."_  She seemed to be right; Azula looked around and had yet to see even one. There were one or two staff members bustling around, but no guards. The security up here was lax. Sweetly, wonderfully lax.

Kai's voice jolted her back from her thoughts, "Do you think you can manage down the stairs?"

"No elevator either? Are we in ancient times?"

The doctor chuckled, "Clearly we need to make some upgrades. I can send for a guard to help—"

"No. I will do it," Azula would never stoop so low to be  _carried_  down the stairs. She wished she still had access to her palanquin. That was an acceptable form of being carried. But alas, there were no royal perks in this place.

Kai held the metal door open for her and Azula slowly, carefully descended down the stairs. Thankfully, they weren't too narrow and the dim recessed lights overhead worked well enough. Though twice, the crutches slipped on the metal surface and Kai had to yank her back by her shirt to prevent a nasty fall. Each time, the collar cut painfully into the tender bruises that crawled around her neck. She cursed under her breath, gripping the crutches firmly.

Glancing around, Azula noticed there were no guards patrolling through the staircase either. It seemed like their presence was maxed out on her floor. She still had no idea of the situation outside and made a mental note to wheedle that information out of Ty Lee sometime soon.

Progress down the stairs was slow, but eventually they made it to the very bottom. Kai again held the door open as Azula hobbled over the threshold. Her eyes raked over every surface of the hallway leading to her room. Entirely metal. The same recessed lights in the ceiling. Two guards were posted outside what she assumed was her room, situated halfway down the hall. At the opposite end, she saw another door with a staircase label.  _Two staircases, and I bet that one comes out right near that front desk. Right near the entrance_.

Her breath fogged in front of her and she stuck her lip out slightly. The consistent warmth of the last twenty or so hours was gone.  _Orange flames again_. The thought irked her.

They reached her door and as she passed through it, she raised an eyebrow at the sight of the room. It was completely changed.

This time, the walls were not coated in an icy crystalline sheen. White, flexible padding had been bolted to them, while the floor was covered in a thick dark red carpet. The same stuff she glimpsed in that large room on the ground floor. Her bed was made and fitted with Ty Lee's blanket and pillows. Azula glanced quickly to the tiny bathroom and found that it too had been fixed with the padding, though there was still no sign of a door. The iron bars spanning the middle of the room remained exposed, much to her delight.

"I thought a few changes were in order, after last night," Kai's voice sounded from behind her. "On the off chance that a repeat of yesterday happens, I think a far less conductive cell will keep any more serious injuries at bay. Though it's still capable of cooling."

She spun awkwardly on the crutches to face him, hair swishing in front of her face, "Zuko would never agree to this."

Kai stepped forward with the little key to the bars in hand, unlocking it with a soft clinking sound, "Perhaps not, which is why I did not inform him."

Before she could stifle it, Azula's lips twitched into a smirk.  _Against Zuko's wishes? Maybe he isn't so worthless after all_. She crossed over the vastly softened floor and sat on her bed, crutches balancing against the wall. Turning the key, Kai locked her inside.

"Minah will be back tomorrow for another healing treatment. You may keep the crutches, in case you want to move around. But don't overexert yourself."

At the mention of the healer, Azula stiffened. She was reminded of the overwhelming panic she felt earlier and blurted a question out before Kai left, "Could… I be sedated for the healing?"

He turned and offered her a quizzical expression, but after some consideration he nodded.

"Let the guard know if you would like some dinner," the doctor walked briskly out of the room, leaving Azula back in the regular company of her ever watchful companions. This time though, one guard remained inside, while the other stayed in the hallway.

She stretched out gently on the mattress, careful not to rustle the gauze on her leg too much, and swept her eyes around the room again. She smiled a little, feeling quite good for the first time in a while, despite the random jolts of pain in her leg.


	15. Chapter 15

One week after the lightning incident, Ty Lee approached the palace, still wondering if talking to Zuko was the right thing to do. She had updated him a few times on her visits with his sister, not of the more intimate details that recently had come to dominate their time together, but enough for him to know that Azula was still stuck between struggle and recovery.

Ideally, Ty Lee wanted to convince Zuko that Azula needed more freedom to get even better. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to stay in the same room for four years with no privacy, no books, no games, no friendly conversation. No training space. For Azula, that was probably the most gutting. Ty Lee shuddered at the thought of being prevented from her own acrobatic movement.  _What a nightmare_.

Still, Dr. Liu's words about Zuko stuck in her mind and sobered her hopes. She remembered his warnings of telling the young Fire Lord about Azula's lightning. Kai was skeptical of Zuko's desire to truly help his sister and the conditions at which Azula was being kept did not help Ty Lee's own doubts. She guessed that perhaps a weakened Azula meant less of a threat towards his throne. After all, this family was  _too_  obsessed with acquiring and retaining the role of Fire Lord.

Walking along the streets of the capital, Ty Lee sighed. She wondered what the two siblings' relationship would have been like if they hadn't been pitted against each other from early childhood onwards. A fresh surge of hatred for Ozai washed over her.

She didn't like to dwell on Zuko and Azula's upbringing. Partially because she didn't really know too much about it; both siblings were notoriously tight lipped about anything regarding family. She often hoped that was because of royal business and not for some darker, sinister reasons. But everyone knew of Fire Lord Ozai's reputation. Strict, intimidating, incredibly powerful, harsh. She never heard of  _anyone_  talk about his fatherly qualities and suspected that he chose his Fire Lord duties over his own children.

Then again, Ozai wasn't the only parent to blame. Ursa's role in raising Azula was noticeably weaker than Ozai's. Ty Lee knew of Azula's intense jealousy over Zuko's relationship with their mother. It was terribly obvious even as children, though the princess tried her best to hide it. As they got older, Ursa's clear favoritism of her son and inability to understand her daughter only fanned the flames of a quickly burning familial bond; leaving only ashes between the siblings. And it is incredibly hard to rebuild anything from ashes.

She shook her head of the depressing thoughts and maintained her pace, briskly walking through the dim light of dusk towards the palace gates. After several security checks, she was within the palace walls. She laughed lightly at the fact that both royal siblings were housed behind such massive security efforts. Although their circumstances were entirely different.

Ty Lee dawdled through the old hallways, taking in the ornately carved dragon statues and detailed tapestries that lined the walls. For such a stunningly beautiful place, she was always sad to find that it never felt like a home. It was just a big government building that happened to house people.

Before she truly realized it, her feet were guiding her towards a familiar corner of the palace. She glanced around and quietly pushed a giant gold inlaid door open to enter Azula's old room.

It was very dark. Blood red curtains covered the large windows completely. Ty Lee gently clicked the door shut and drifted over to the windows, drawing the curtains open to let the fading light of day in for the first time in who knows how long.

She ran her fingers along the windows and pried the old things open. They creaked with effort but eventually gave way and a fresh breeze of winter in the Fire Nation cut through the air.

Ty Lee looked down at the grounds.  _Of course Azula's room faces the training compound. She probably hasn't gone a day in her life without at least thinking about bending._ The lights of the palace spread across the expansive lawn, orange and yellow patterns bleeding into the well-worn earth. Elbows perched on the windowsill, Ty Lee held her face in her hands and lost herself in memories of days spent in the sun with her two best friends.

_ This place makes me sad _ . The thought chilled her, or maybe it was the breeze, and she turned quickly from the window, not wanting emotions to get the better of her right now.

She looked around the room again and found it completely empty. Azula's rather large vanity mirror was missing. No traces of clothes or any belongings. No lingering smell of perfume in the air. Not a wrinkle on the tightly made bed. A thin layer of dust coated every surface. It was as if Zuko wanted to squash all memory of his sister ever having a significant presence here.

Her throat burned and she knew she had to get out of this room. Away from all the bittersweet memories and facts of a harsh new reality.  _A palace without Azula just seems wrong._

She took a deep breath, the cool outside air stirring her long braid against her back. A stray beam of dying light hit something beneath Azula's bedside table, sending a bright glint straight into Ty Lee's eye. She squinted and walked over to investigate.

Kneeling down, she quickly recognized the gleaming object and pocketed it without a second thought.

Ty Lee straightened up and shut the windows. She swished the rich curtains closed, shrouding the room back into shadow, before crossing to the door, running a hand along the large canopy bed on her way. She stuck her head into the hallway and seeing no guards, shut Azula's door and set off to find Zuko.

She guessed he would be done with meetings and official duties by now and so Ty Lee roamed to the other side of the palace towards the most frequented dining room.

The double doors to the room were open and behind the two guards outside, she glimpsed the serious looking Fire Lord hunched over a plate of food.

She greeted him brightly from the hallway, "Hi Zuko!"

His head snapped up and he smiled softly upon recognizing her, nodding to the guards to let her pass into the room, "Hi. It's nice to see a friendly face, all of these meetings with generals and diplomats are wearing me out."

Ty Lee entered the room and took a seat across from Zuko. He looked tired as usual, but she noticed the short, carefully manicured beard he must have grown within the last few weeks since she'd seen him. It made him look so much older than twenty one.

She laughed, "You mean you don't like being surrounded by creepy old men every second of every day?"

The tension in Zuko's face eased at the light hearted conversation, "No, no I guess I don't. Would you like something to eat?"

She was about to decline when her stomach grumbled noisily, "Sure, dinner sounds great."

Zuko gestured to one of the guards and he left to fetch a plate for Ty Lee. The Fire Lord sipped from a steaming cup of tea and eyed his friend, "So, I got your letter. What's going on with her? Dr. Liu's updates haven't indicated any drastic changes."

_ Her.  _ Ty Lee frowned at Zuko not even saying Azula's name. Was the distance between them really so vast?

"Oh, Azula's fine. I just wanted to update you in person this time. I thought you'd like a visitor instead of another letter," Ty Lee fixed a wide grin across her face.

"I do appreciate that, anything to keep the stack of letters from piling to the ceiling is great," he leaned into the high backed chair and closed his golden eyes, one of the few traits linking him to his sister.

Ty Lee drummed her fingers nervously across the table top, "I did want to ask you some things about her though. Um, just… you know, some recent things have sort of bugged me."

Zuko opened his eyes and cocked his head at her, "What sort of things?"

_ Ooh boy, okay, just relax and say it. He won't get mad, it's just a comment, it's fine _ .

Ignoring Azula's past warning she continued, "Well, um, you know the methods that they use to punish, er, treat Azula? The cooling?"

The Fire Lord nodded and Ty Lee smacked herself inwardly,  _of course he knows, he ordered it!_

"It's just that, there was one time I visited her while they were doing it and it was  _really_ cold. The whole room was frozen and Azula was unconscious from being too cold. Don't you think that's a little extreme?"

Zuko folded his arms in front of him and looked towards the door, "I think the doctor probably had a good reason to do so. She must have done something to deserve that punishment. They wouldn't needlessly do it."

Ty Lee flinched at the harsh words. He was speaking in an uncharacteristically cold tone, too like his sister, "Um, sure. That's what I thought too, but all she did was burn herself a little bit. I don't think that should mean freezing her to near death."

"I'm aware of all of this, Ty Lee. Dr. Liu informed me of her actions and he has responded in a way that I find acceptable—"

"But Zuko, it was  _bad_! She was barely breathing when I went in to see her and her skin was ice!"

Zuko's brow wrinkled, "You went in her quarters?"

Ty Lee swallowed and her eyes darted up to meet the Fire Lord's, "Oh. Yes. I thought she was maybe, um, not alive, I was worried and they let me in." Her voice wavered a bit, but she regained confidence at the mental image of a blue tinged Azula, "She needed somebody."

He sighed, a look of annoyance flashing across his face, "They shouldn't have let you in there."

Ty Lee felt a swell of anger, "Why not? After four years she still isn't allowed to have contact with another person? Do you hate her that much?"

Zuko's own temper flared a little at the accusation, "She could have hurt you! After four years you still don't recognize the threat she poses?"

"For Agni's sake Zuko, she's locked up and restrained in a cell! If I ever felt threatened, I could defend myself against her, we all know that." As she said the words, a prickle of doubt seized her. The lightning incident threw a wrench into her confidence. Respecting Kai's wishes, she did not mention this to Zuko. Ty Lee curled her hands into fists on the table, "Don't you want her to be healthy? How does freezing her and keeping her isolated help her in any way?"

"It keeps her contained!" he nearly shouted, waving an arm, the long sleeve of his robes trailed through the air. The guard outside shifted nervously on his feet as he glanced inside the room. Zuko buried his forehead in his hand, "If I let her… If I loosen restrictions, she'll get out. Somehow, she would. I'd be worried sick if she was roaming around freely. With her abilities, I'd never find her and I have no idea what she'd do."

Ty Lee looked at him, mouth agape, not quite knowing what to say. Zuko took a breath before pressing on.

"I don't want to hurt her," he looked up at Ty Lee, eyes almost pleading with her. "You have to understand that I don't like or want to do this, right? It's the only way to keep her in check."

She shook her head in mild disgust, "I think if you had kept up visiting her, you might have a different opinion. She's restless in there. You think cooping her up will stop her from-from what exactly? From stealing the throne? From launching her own agenda somewhere? Who knows if she even wants those things?"

Zuko gave her a knowing look, "It's Azula. As long as I wear this crown, she'll always want those things."

Deep down, Ty Lee had a sickening feeling that Zuko was right. The more she thought about it, reconciliation between the two siblings seemed impossible.

Their shouting ceased and the sound of clinking armor filled the air. The guard that Zuko sent away earlier returned with a heaping plate of food for Ty Lee. She stared down at the meal in front of her, not feeling nearly as hungry as she was before.

"So then, are you going to keep her in there forever?" she asked softly, prodding at the food with her chopsticks.

Zuko looked genuinely defeated, "I don't know. For now, I think she's where she needs to be. Dr. Liu is there for her, she has what she needs to get better."

_ Yes, the bare minimum. _

"Out of sight, out of mind, huh?" Ty Lee whispered. She regretted it instantly at the look of hurt on Zuko's face, but didn't apologize. No one else seemed to remotely care about Azula anymore and it was starting to wear on Ty Lee's patience.

The two finished their dinner in silence, both thinking too hard about a woman miles and miles away.

Eventually, Ty Lee stood up to leave, "Thanks for the food, Zuko. I… Don't work too hard." She smiled easily, though the expression didn't quite reach her eyes.

He returned his own strained smile, "Get home safely."

She turned from the table, winding her way through the long hallways and out the front entrance towards the moonlit streets of the capital.  _Such a broken family_. Ty Lee decided she would stop by her parents' place on the way home. She hadn't been there in some time.

In the dining room, Zuko lowered his head and scratched the new beard on his jaw. He wasn't quite used to it yet. His head swam with familiar thoughts about his sister.  _Is she really struggling with the cooling as much as Ty Lee said? Did I overdo it? Am I acting like Father?_

The last unsettling thought crossed his mind for the millionth time. Despite how desperately he used to crave his father's approval, Zuko recognized just how fortunate he'd been to be guided by his uncle. Though she was favored since their early childhood years, he knew Azula was forced to train and study obsessively. He also knew their father's temper and was almost certain that no matter how perfect his sister had been, she'd probably been at the receiving end of his anger at some point. In what form and how often, he did not know.  _Probably more often than I want to know_.

He stood from the table and strode over to one of the windows facing a small courtyard outside. Just a sliver in the sky, the crescent moon still illuminated the grounds. Hands clenched behind his back, he breathed deeply.  _Should I go see her?_

Zuko remembered the last time he saw his sister. How long ago was that? Six months? A year? He was in the chilly cell for only ten or fifteen minutes. The entire time was spent in taut silence, with Azula sprawled out casually on her bed acting like he didn't exist.

_ No. Not yet. _


	16. Chapter 16

"W-what happened in here?!"

Ty Lee's jaw dropped at the transformation of Azula's room. Cushy white walls, plush carpet, it looked almost habitable. Sure, the padding was a reminder that they were in a mental institute, but it was an improvement over solid metal.

"I did some remodeling," Azula grinned. She still hadn't gotten used to the changes of the room. Her feet were no longer constantly chilled from being in contact with a cold metal floor. It was pleasant. A recent burn experiment also revealed that the room could still be cooled enough to coat the bars with frost. It wasn't ice, but she hoped it would still have the desired effect.

Ty Lee scrunched up her face in doubt, "Uh huh, I'm sure you did all of this. Seriously, why the drastic change?" She approached a straightjacketed Azula on her bed, having already been let into the barred area by the interior guard.

Azula shrugged, "Kai is afraid I'll conjure lightning again and do more significant damage to myself. So he made this place into less of a death trap and more of a… typical loony bin room."

"How's your leg?" The bed sank a bit as Ty Lee sat down.

Azula stared at the bandages covering her injury. It was still incredibly tender after a little over a week, and she could feel the hidden jagged lines pulse with pain sometimes. She hadn't seen the wound since that day in the patient care room, since she was sedated at each healing session. She hoped it wouldn't scar. But the gauze was so itchy and she found herself scratching at it throughout the week, despite the pain. Azula wondered when she could be rid of it.

"It's fine. I can walk on it decently with crutches now."

"Ooh, crutches are the worst! I sprained my ankle while I was in the circus and I had to use them for like two weeks, it was awful. They jab into your armpits and you can't move fast at all. But I got pretty good at them," she grinned and bounced up off the bed to grab the crutches leaning against the wall. Before Azula could fully roll her eyes, Ty Lee had scooted across the room on the crutches, braid flailing wildly behind her.

"I think you're the one that should be in here," Azula said with a raise of an eyebrow.

Ty Lee giggled madly and sped back across the room, "They'd let me out in two seconds because I'm so cute." She put the crutches back and batted her eyelashes at Azula.

She grimaced, "Sure, that's how it works. If it was based on attractiveness, I'd have been out of here years ago."

"No, no, not attractiveness, cuteness! You're gorgeous and all, but you're also so cold and…" she paused when Azula shot her a deadly look. "Never mind!"

Azula flopped down into her pillows while Ty Lee chatted about stupid, mundane things.  _Rice flour is so expensive! My teapot has a crack in the spout. I saw a sea lion on the ferry ride today. Can you believe it's almost the middle of winter? Sometimes I wish I could play in the snow just for one day. I should get a new jacket. There were two mongoose lizards outside today—_

Azula's curiosity spiked, "What? Aren't they usually out there?"

Ty Lee tapped a finger on her lips, "Mm, nope, I've never noticed one before. Usually I just see messenger hawks. They were all the way past the outside gates though, someone probably used them to visit from the village nearby."

_ Outside gates. So there may be a set of inside gates as well, most likely surrounding the entire compound. And no animals for travel or defense. _

Azula scoffed, hoping to bait some more information out of Ty Lee, "I'm sure the guards love having to look after someone's pets while they're on duty."

Ty Lee twirled her braid through her fingers, "I bet they don't mind. They could always take turns watching them anyways."

_ Enough guards on the outside gates to be on watch and keep an eye on mongoose lizards. How many? Where are they stationed? Do they patrol? When does the shift switch? What about the inside gates? _

Azula was about to feign more interest in this topic but Ty Lee cut her off, eyes sparkling, "Remember when we had mongoose lizards, oh they were so fast it was kind of scary…"

_ And there she goes again. _

After a long rant about how absolutely crazy it was that mongoose lizards could run on water, Ty Lee stretched and leaned back against the newly padded wall. She glanced at Azula's bandaged leg and gently trailed her finger down it. The princess flinched slightly.

"Watch it, it's still sore."

"Ah! Sorry, I just um… Does it still look all pink and stripe-y?" Ty Lee remembered seeing the somewhat gruesome looking injury just hours after it happened.

"I don't know, I haven't seen it since last week," Azula tightened her abdominal muscles to sit up, the straightjacket was annoying.

"You haven't had a healing session since last week?" Ty Lee huffed in disbelief, as if she would immediately dash off to Kai's office to berate him for depriving Azula of medical treatment.

"That's not what I said. I just haven't seen it," Azula looked towards the bars, clenching her jaw as she was reminded of the waterbender.  _Next time. Next time I'll be awake for it_.

Ty Lee looked confused, "Oh, okay." She followed Azula's gaze and looked beyond the bars to the singular guard facing them. Lowering her voice she changed the subject and whispered, "So, do we get five minutes today or what?" Her eyes darted quickly to Azula and then back to the guard.

The princess smirked and turned to face her, "Oh? I'm sick of sending them away, why don't we put on a show for him?"

She leaned in quickly to capture Ty Lee's lips, but the former acrobat hastily backed away, "What, no! I-I mean, normally I wouldn't really care, but today I…" she spoke so quietly Azula had to lean in to hear, "I have something for you that I don't think he should see."

Azula eyed Ty Lee curiously. She was fidgeting with her braid and her eyes were wide. She certainly looked nervous, which was odd. Whenever she brought gifts, she usually outright handed them over after Kai approved—

_ Ah. So she snuck something in _ .

Azula smirked at the thought and licked her lips. Ty Lee swallowed anxiously and colored at the princess's expression. She wore a devilish grin and her gold eyes gleamed, clearly understanding why Ty Lee was acting strangely.

With a twist of her head, Azula snapped at the guard, "We'd like our five minutes of privacy now, if you don't mind."

The man knocked on the door and was let out by his hallway counterpart, shuffling awkwardly out of the room, and closing the door behind him. Azula assumed it was pretty obvious by now what the two of them used this time for, and she was grateful that the guards trusted little doe-eyed Ty Lee so much that they didn't bother searching her before she came in here.

She turned eagerly back to Ty Lee, eyes flashing, "What is it?"

"D-don't be too excited, I went to the palace the other day to talk to your brother."

Azula's expression immediately fell, "About what? I told you not to tell him about the cooling."

Ty Lee gently shushed her, "Relax, I'll tell you in a minute about it, just let me give you this first." From an inside pocket of her jacket, she withdrew the princess's shiny gold royal crest.

Azula stared at the object in Ty Lee's palm. She desperately wished she wasn't wearing a straightjacket so she could feel the little metal flame in her own hands.

"Where did you find that?" she barely breathed.

Ty Lee watched Azula eye the crest, "It was under a table in your room. I know you can't really wear it here, but I thought you might like to have it anyw—"

Azula leaned forward and barely rested her head on Ty Lee's shoulder. An unwanted lump in her throat was suddenly making it hard to swallow.  _Emotions, not now._  Ty Lee wrapped her arms around Azula. After a minute, the princess straightened up and bit her lip, trying to hold back, not a smirk or a grin, but an actual smile.

Her eyes were bright with a light hearted pleasure, an expression Ty Lee rarely saw in them. If something so simple could bring out this side of Azula, Ty Lee had serious hope for her recovery.

"Before he comes back, can you put it on me?" Azula hadn't expected to feel quite so  _giddy_  at seeing the relic from her past, but she was finding it hard to contain herself. _I haven't seen it in so long._

Ty Lee grinned at her reaction.  _I guess she can be cute sometimes._ She took a spare ribbon from her wrist and gently tied Azula's hair up in its long abandoned topknot style. She pinned the crest into the base of the soft black bun and smiled at her handiwork.

There were no mirrors in the room and the vaguely reflective metal surfaces were all covered up, so she couldn't see the result, but Azula felt  _renewed_. Like her pre-comet self had just awakened from a long nap. The fire in her blood burned a little stronger. She smiled at Ty Lee and asked, "So, how does it look?"

Ty Lee beamed at how well the gift had been received. Azula's shorter pieces of hair no longer framed her face and she wasn't wearing imperial armor, but Ty Lee still felt a strong sense of nostalgia at seeing her look so regal. She briefly kissed Azula's cheek before pulling back to say, "You look perfect, Princess."

Glancing at the door, Ty Lee was reminded that they had limited time and apologized in hushed tones, "I have to take it down, okay? Before he sees."

"Right," Azula's eyes fluttered shut.  _Not long enough_.

Ty Lee quickly unfastened the crest and undid the ribbon, letting dark curtains of hair fall back around Azula's face. Her look had tempered a bit, but she was still bubbling with a long lost sense of excitement.

"I'll put it and the ribbon inside one of your pillowcases for now. You can move it somewhere safer after I leave," Ty Lee reached behind Azula and stashed the shining metal flame beneath the pillows.

She leaned back and found Azula looking at her with a strangely soft expression. One she'd witnessed only a handful of times. Golden eyes met gray-brown ones and Azula leaned forward to kiss Ty Lee.

Unlike most of their previous kisses, Ty Lee was surprised to find this one so gentle. Not coated in lustful undertones, it was genuinely sweet and its rarity made her heart race.

Azula pulled away so they were still nose to nose. She didn't speak, but Ty Lee knew what she wanted to say.

The door of the cell opened and the guard filed in to resume his regular position.

Ty Lee tucked the long hair that hung in front of Azula's face behind her ear, "You're welcome."

The princess tossed her head back, briefly shutting her eyes.  _Today I can be nice to her. For now, let go of the fact that she went to see Zuko. Today is okay_.

Azula opened her eyes and purred with a smirk, "So, you went to the palace and the first place you go to is my room?"

Immediately blushing, Ty Lee avoided Azula's gaze, "Um, ha, no! I talked to Zuko first and then I decided to stop by your room just to make sure it was still… there?" Her head slumped with the weight of the obvious lie.

"Mhm. And here I thought they would have completely excised it from the palace."

Ty Lee looked up again, wanting to tell Azula about her talk with Zuko before she drew her own conclusions, "Don't worry about me talking to him, okay? I don't think anything's gonna change. He's still totally on board with freezing you to death, even though he says he doesn't  _want_ to."

"Just what I want to hear from dear Zuzu."  _Actually, that is exactly what I want to hear_.

Ty Lee glanced uneasily at her friend, "I know you didn't want me to go, I just wanted to try and convince him that you deserve better, you know?"

Azula's brow twitched.  _Why does she still care so much?_

Ty Lee stood and stretched, falling back into random conversation. After another half hour or so, she left for the city. Azula was released from her straightjacket and had to occupy herself with trying to walk on her injured leg, so she didn't rush at the item stowed away in her pillowcase.

Complicated thoughts regarding Ty Lee's most recent gift flooded her mind, but she knew all of her excitement was genuinely towards seeing the little flame and definitely not towards the woman who gave it to her. Still… Azula brushed her finger against her lips, feeling their last kiss linger.

_ No. You were blinded with elation from the sight of the crest. Nothing more. She went to Zuko. She betrayed you. She's why you lost that flame in the first place. _

Again, Azula fought with herself. After several minutes she hobbled towards the middle of the floor and sat down on the thick carpet.  _Alright Kai, let's see if meditation does anything at all_.

She sat in an odd position on the floor, her injured leg straight in front of her while her right bent at the knee. Back straight, she relaxed as best she could and cleared her mind of all thoughts. Her breathing slowed and she remained in that position for a good hour, not thinking of any feelings, positive or negative, towards the acrobat.

The guard watched her for a while with interest. He eventually informed the man in the hallway to go get her some dinner. She finally moved from her place on the carpet when the tray clinked softly as the guard passed it beneath the bars.

Azula ate quietly and then hopped back over to her bed. Her leg was throbbing a bit, so she lay down to rest. Soon, mind still clear of any troublesome thoughts, she fell into a light nap. Unfortunately for the princess, her subconscious was not so kind. A few disturbing nightmares later, she awoke in the darkness, cold from the light sheen of sweat coating her body. She spent a few minutes shaking the dreams from her head and then finally did what she'd been yearning to do all day.

Her hand slipped beneath the pillowcase and she grasped the cool piece of bright steel: a reminder of her strength, her resilience, her intelligence.

She was a little disappointed that she couldn't train with it on. After the lightning, Kai had replaced her sleepy night guard with a more alert one, interrupting her nocturnal training regimen. Not that she could have trained efficiently with her leg in this state anyways.

Rolling onto her back, Azula clutched the flame closely to her chest and hoped that her next few hours of sleep would be free of menacing visions.


	17. Chapter 17

Ty Lee had just finished having lunch over at Mai's house on a chilly winter day. She'd been trying to visit the young diplomat a little more frequently, knowing that her friend suffered from chronic boredom. And although Mai might never admit it openly, she enjoyed the chatty company.

Not much was new in Mai's world. She had just returned from an assignment in the Earth Kingdom and would be going back during the next week or so. Even four years after the war, there was a lot of damage that still needed repairing between the two nations. Despite Mai's less than cheery personality and her hatred of politics, she was surprisingly good at her job. Perhaps her dissociative demeanor helped her see things more rationally than others might. Ty Lee had no idea, she was just happy her friend was doing well.

Now the former acrobat had set off for another visit to the mental institution. Ever since she gave Azula the royal crest a couple weeks ago, the princess had been strangely content and non-confrontational. It was a little odd, but in a welcome way. Ty Lee found conversation easier than ever and though Azula still made the occasional snide remark at her, it was usually just for fun.

She smiled, walking through the outskirts of the city towards the docks. Today she felt optimistic about asking Dr. Liu for a favor. Azula had been exceptionally normal these past few weeks. As far as Ty Lee knew, she hadn't had any intense hallucinations and though her leg remained bandaged, it was healing well. The only unfortunate thing was that Azula still continued to burn her neck and shoulders for reasons unknown. Both Ty Lee and the doctor had tried multiple times to ask about the burns, but Azula always responded identically: they were the result of nightmares.

Ty Lee had always been skeptical of that answer, but now it made even less sense to her. Azula hadn't been suffering from major hallucinations and according to Dr. Liu, her nightmares were probably decreasing as well. So she was  _probably_ consciously burning herself. But the reasoning still eluded them.

She supposed it didn't matter too much. The burns were never serious and Azula had a nice thick blanket to deal with her room's temperature. Besides, her overall attitude had improved immensely with the crest. For now, though she was still concerned, Ty Lee told herself to try and stop bothering the princess about them.

She made her way to the docks, boarded the ferry, and spent the ride thinking of her pleasant afternoon with Mai.

_ Mai… I still haven't talked to Azula about what happened between them. _  She was reluctant to bring that subject up, afraid it would kill whatever good mood had surged inside the princess. But she knew she couldn't just let it go either.  _One of these days..._

Her feet had carried her to the first gate of the facility while she was deep in thought. Passing through, she waved to the guards at each gated ring and knocked on the frosted door of Dr. Liu's office. A muffled voice called for her to come in.

He looked up from a patient's file and ruffled his dark gray hair, "Ah, good morning. You may proceed downstairs."

Ty Lee smiled and brushed her long braid over her shoulder before sitting down across from the doctor.  _Okay, just be brave and ask. It's not a big deal. If he says no, he says no._

Dr. Liu looked at her curiously before she spoke, "Actually, I was wondering if I could ask you a favor. See, Azula's been doing really well recently and I thought it might be nice to sort of reward her for good behavior, you know? So, um, I thought maybe you might let her take a walk with me up here or-or maybe even let her get a breath of fresh air?" She bit her lip and tried to keep her hands from fidgeting in her lap.  _Jeez, I'm not asking for her release, just relax!_

The doctor leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. He closed his eyes and seemed to consider Ty Lee's question seriously. She was grateful for that. An immediate rejection was always disheartening.

It was a few more seconds before he responded, "I can allow a walk on this floor, but I'm afraid letting her outside is still not possible. You will be escorted by the two guards from her room at all times and she will have to be in the straightjacket. Perhaps you can spend some time in the patient common room? She hasn't been in there yet."

Ty Lee's eyes lit up and she bowed her head, "Oh, perfect. Thank you so much!" She stood quickly and Dr. Liu did the same.

"I'll go down there with you and inform the guards of their instructions."

The pair left the office and set off down the hallway. Dr. Liu stopped at the common room and saw that it was unoccupied. He was glad this was the case, as he wasn't entirely sure how the patients would react to seeing Azula. Or what Azula would do in the presence of other patients. He also quickly stepped into Minah's room and retrieved the straightjacket.

They descended the staircases to the sixth floor basement. Ty Lee practically jumped down the last few steps and tore down the hallway to Azula's room. Kai smiled, happy that someone was concerned about the well being of his most stubborn patient.

Ty Lee bounced through the metal door and ran up to the bars. Azula looked up lazily from her position in the middle of the floor.

"What has you so excited?" she sneered and eyed Ty Lee with suspicion.

"I'm taking you out!" she chimed with a smile that stretched from ear to ear.

Azula stood stiffly, her leg still bothering her a bit. The random shocks of pain had died down, but there was a lingering tightness that had yet to dissipate. She had forced herself to refuse sedation for the healing sessions, though her heart and mind still raced when the healer encased her leg in water. And, being awake, she was pleased to see that her foot and leg had lost their reddish-pink coloring. The thin jagged lines were still visible, but continued to fade with each treatment. Azula hoped they would not scar.

She picked up the crutch next to her and walked up to meet Ty Lee, "Out?"

Ty Lee was bursting with joy, "Yes! I asked Dr. Liu if we could go for a little walk inside and he agreed. Are you excited? I am!" She clasped her hands together, probably trying to keep herself from tearing apart at the seams with excitement.

Only then did Azula notice Kai whispering to the guards in the hallway. His eyes met hers and he frowned.

"Can you walk without the crutch?" he walked into the room, addressing Azula.

Azula also noticed the straightjacket he clutched in his hand.  _Ah, so he wants me restrained. Well, I'm sorry doctor, not today._

"Of course, especially if it means hopping up multiple flights of stairs with no arms for balance or holding the railing," she grinned sarcastically.

Kai flushed slightly and cleared his throat, "That's alright. I will have other measures taken once you and Lady Ty Lee are settled in the common room." He stood next to Ty Lee and unlocked the barred door, swinging it open to allow Azula to pass through.

The group of five proceeded out the door and to the right, entering the staircase that Azula had yet to set foot in. Just before the stairs was a small door, propped open to reveal a storage closet full of cleaning supplies and, Azula narrowed her eyes, that dreadful metal chair. Kai led the way up the stairs, followed by Azula and Ty Lee, the two guards bringing up the rear. Azula still hated using the crutch, but she had gotten much better at it and was keeping up easily with the rest of the group. Ty Lee meanwhile, had to refrain from linking arms with the princess as they walked. She figured it would throw her off balance.

They ascended the stairs and came out on the ground level, right near the front desk. Right near the front entrance.

Azula paid close attention to everything about this area of the building. The woman at the front desk was quite small with short black hair and vibrant green eyes. Kai leaned down to whisper something in her ear. Her hands were calloused, rough looking, and Azula was certain the woman was an earthbender. Judging by the structure of this place, she probably could manipulate metal to some extent as well.  _Better avoid her if I come this way_.

She noticed heavy metal doors that probably lead outside.  _Fresh air…_ A shiver shook down her spine at the thought of standing beneath the sun again. Floors and floors of metal interference gone.

They continued to walk down the hallway and Azula saw a frosted glass paneled door with  _Dr. Kai Liu_ engraved on it. There were a few other closed doors with no labels, probably supply closets or visitor's rooms. Then she passed a more familiar section of this floor, the patient care room to her left, the healer's room opposite that, and then Kai stopped outside of the white padded room that Azula caught sight of the day after the lightning.

He opened the door and they entered the bright room. It was completely deserted of any other people, but there were several cards and game pieces scattered on the carpeted floor. Clearly, the room got plenty of use throughout the day by patients not being smothered by their brothers.

A few white cushy couches faced each other with a large coffee table between them and there were several sets of metal chairs and tables for pairs to sit at. Along the walls were numerous shelves of games, colored paints, and books. All of this would probably have been appreciated by the princess, but her immediate attention was focused elsewhere.

This room jutted out a little further than the adjacent rooms to accommodate a magnificent window which stretched across the entirety of the west side of the room. The glass was impressively thick and immaculately clean. Azula found her eyes glued to this glimpse into the outside world. A place she hadn't seen in so long, she'd almost forgotten it was real. She drifted over to the glass and stared at the luminous sphere of yellow-white light in the sky for the first time in years.

Her blood tingled. Pleasurable chills shot through her veins and she inhaled deeply, feeling her old power stretch and wake within her. She lowered her eyes after several moments and saw the dull winter green of Fire Nation trees lining the sides of the building's lawns. And then her heart skipped a beat. She saw the gates Ty Lee mentioned. She saw the guards Ty Lee mentioned. She saw  _everything_ outside of this building. It was too much and she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from eliciting a suspiciously manic sound.

The door to the room shut as Kai reentered. Apparently the man had left at some point during her window gazing. She'd traveled into her own blissful dimension for a few minutes, a thick panel of glass and a bum leg separating her from freedom.

Azula spun around and made her way back over to the quartet. They were observing her silently and she rolled her eyes at the misty look Ty Lee was giving her.

Kai was clasping a pair of handcuffs and a thick chain, "You'll have to remain in these as long as you're in here. They'll still allow you relative freedom to move your hands for games or reading, but we'll also have to secure them to the table."

She looked around the room and discovered that the metal chairs and tables were bolted to the floor, immoveable. There were little loops of wrought iron welded to the furniture, where she supposed the chain could be slipped through.

Azula sighed and held her hands out while Kai cuffed the metal tightly around her wrists. He led her over to a table and chairs by the window and secured her in place. Then nodding to the guards, now stationed beside the door, he exited the room.

Ty Lee hopped over to her, "So what do you want to do? There are a lot of books that you might like. Or I think I saw a Pai Sho board, we could play that, even though I know you'll beat me in ten moves."

Azula was barely listening, her gaze still focused on what lay beyond the window. "Pai Sho is fine."

Ty Lee grabbed a set off of one of the large shelves and brought it back over to the table. Azula was gazing unblinkingly out at the sun, golden eyes illuminated like two tiny suns themselves.  _It's the first time she's seen the outdoors in more than four years. I'd probably stare a lot too_.

She set the board up and began divvying out the pieces, realizing quickly that they were short several tiles.

"Oh, we're missing a bunch. They must be all over the floor somewhere. I can go look for them—"

"No, it's fine. Go get a book to read or something, I think I'll just look here for a while," she was speaking softly. Ty Lee waved a hand in front of her face and Azula scowled, "What?"

She withdrew her hand and smiled, "Just checking."

Ty Lee put the game back into its little box and got up to peruse the bookshelves for something else. In the end, she decided painting would be the most fun to do by herself, as it seemed like Azula only had eyes for the window at the moment. Ty Lee selected a little rolled up canvas and some nice pastel colored paints, bringing them back over to where Azula sat as still as a statue.

The former acrobat was astonishingly silent and occupied herself with random doodles and a painting of a pretty meadow full of flowers with a stream nearby. She was not particularly talented at painting, but it was fun to try. Ty Lee was half tempted to paint the princess sitting across from her, but given her skills, figured she didn't want to butcher Azula's good looks.

Azula was grateful that Ty Lee wasn't filling the air with pointless drabble. The unusual quiet was nice, especially paired with the view. She couldn't take her eyes off of the sun, drinking in all of its distant power.  _Was it always so bright? Did it always have that little ring around it? I feel sorry I haven't seen it for so long._

She laughed abruptly.  _Apologizing to the sun, I guess I'm in the right place after all._

Ty Lee glanced up at the sound and couldn't help feeling heat rise in her cheeks. Azula wasn't smiling, but her face was free of worry and anger, her black hair was shining luminously in the rays of the sun. She looked so healthy.

They sat like that for quite a long time: Ty Lee painting and stealing glances at the princess, Azula looking at everything in sight beyond the glass.

The room was soon coated in the rich red-orange color of the rapidly setting sun.

Ty Lee finally broke the comfortable silence, "I should probably head out if I want to catch the last ferry." She blew gently on her finished painting, urging it to dry faster.

Azula ripped her eyes away from the window for the first time in a couple hours, "Alright."

"Here!" Ty Lee pushed the art across the table to Azula, "You can hang it up in your room. Even though it's not as depressing as it used to be, you could still use some wall decorations."

The princess examined it, "What is it? A bunch of seaweed?"

Ty Lee gasped, offended, "What, no! It's a meadow and there's even a little stream nearby. See?" She pointed out all of the clearly depicted features.

"A meadow of seaweed."

Ty Lee gently hit Azula's shoulder, "Hey, not everyone is as perfect at everything as you are."

"Apparently not," Azula smirked.

Standing up, Ty Lee put a hand on her hip, "Want me to walk with you back downstairs?"

"No. I'm going to stay here," she flicked her head at the sunset. Ty Lee grinned.

"Who knew you were so sappy about a giant fireball floating in the sky?" Azula glared but said nothing. "Alright, well, I'll see you next weekend then. Don't wrinkle that painting up!"

Ty Lee leaned down and quickly kissed the top of Azula's head before turning to walk out of the room. One of the guards told her to inform Dr. Liu that she was on her way out, so she stopped by his office.

"How was she this evening?" Dr. Liu was standing at one of his large file cabinets, sorting through the information of a few different patients.

"She was fine, really quiet. She just looked out the window the whole time while I painted. I gave the picture to her to put up in her room, if that's okay."

Dr. Liu nodded and they parted ways. Ty Lee walked with light feet all the way down to the ferry, glancing a few times back at the building and hoping to catch a glimpse of a sun-obsessed princess.

Kai returned to the common room after another half hour and found Azula still staring out the window. The sky outside was a thin swatch of vibrant red being slowly consumed by a gradient of blues. He approached her and sat down in Ty Lee's seat.

"Ready to go?"

Azula's eyes remained fixed outside, "Once the sun sets."

Kai stayed and they both watched the sun dip below the gates outside, plunging the common room into navy shadows. Dr. Liu gave her another ten or so minutes past the sunset and then unlocked the cuffs and chain tying her to the table. He handed her crutch over and both of them, plus the guards, walked out of the room. Azula quickly glanced behind her and saw the vacant front desk. The group descended to Azula's room.

Once inside, Azula flopped down on her bed, massaging her stiff leg. Kai was about to walk out of the room before he remembered Ty Lee's painting still sitting at the table upstairs, "Do you want me to bring Lady Ty Lee's painting down here for you?"

Azula had honestly forgotten about it, "Not tonight. You can keep it in your office for now."

"Are you sure? She seemed quite intent on you having it."

"Later," Azula looked pointedly at him, a request on her mind, "The next time she comes here, I'd like to be alone with her. For more than five minutes. No jacket."

Kai wrinkled his nose, "I think that's a bit of a far-fetched demand. I have to look out for her safety, why would I allow such a thing?"

"She gave me something and I want to return the favor in one of the only ways I can. I won't hurt her, just the opposite in fact," she grinned at the look on Kai's face. "You have my word."

"The painting? I don't think a drawing warrants a solitary visit—"

"The sun."

Azula's golden eyes stared into the doctor's. He was taken aback at her sudden sentimentality and found it hard to find a reason to refuse. Ty Lee's insistence on a walk had indeed given Azula something so obviously important to her, and probably most firebenders. Four years without seeing the sun or anything that the outdoors had to offer. Four years of being surrounded by glinting gray metal. Azula interrupted his considerations.

"I won't ask again. This would be the only time."

Kai exhaled and squeezed the bridge of his nose, "Alright. A single one-on-one visit."

Azula went back to loosening up her leg's muscles.  _It seems these weeks of being a nice little princess might pay off. As long as I can keep Father away, everything should be fine._

Kai left the room, a foreboding feeling flourishing in his gut.


	18. Chapter 18

Azula lay in her bed in the early morning hours. She could hear the soft breathing of the guard in her room and wished he would fall asleep. She wanted,  _needed_ , to stretch and practice her forms.

Instead, for three nights she lay awake tightly holding onto her old crest, running over the details of everything she had gathered from her hours in the common room.

It was true, most of the time in there she had indeed spent staring at the beautiful fiery orb in the sky. How could she not? It was a part of her just as much as her own heart was. One pumped blood through her veins, the other pumped fire. As mesmerizing as it was, Azula had also spared time to take in as many details about the building's fortifications as she could.

The common room window looked out over the front-left side of the building and was about six inches thick. A remarkably reinforced piece of glass. But Azula could see the glass set directly in the metal of the building. On each side was a sill about three inches deep. Meaning, the walls of this building were a solid foot thick of metal. And she knew there was no chance she could break through that kind of barrier. Her escape route had to be through the only weak points in the building and gate security: doors.

She had a limited view of the building's grounds, but could gather that at least the inner gate was made of a similar metal and thickness as the building. It was perhaps ten or fifteen feet tall. The outer one she could not see at all, though knowing how security checkpoints usually worked, she figured that the inner ones were heavily reinforced with more guards.

Speaking of guards, she had seen four different ones patrolling around the perimeter of the building. They were all dressed in identical uniforms, but they walked differently and she could deduce certain unique traits even from her position. One had a slight limp, one had medium length chestnut hair that flowed across her shoulders, one bopped his head from side to side as he walked, and one was Niko.

She hadn't seen dear Niko guarding her room for quite some time. Azula supposed he got sick of seeing Ty Lee with her so often and was amused by his jealousy. It seemed he was on patrol outside now, ponytail and all.

Azula imagined that there would be stationary guards, at least two, directly posted outside of the front door. As far as she knew there was no back door, so the front seemed to be her only viable option.

The inner gate was more of a thick metal wall, really. It would be difficult to scale and so Azula again decided that the only way through it was through its singular door. Two more guards would surely be posted there. The outer gate was still a mystery. She couldn't see it through the window, blocked as it was by the inner wall, and Ty Lee had never said anything regarding its structure. To be safe, she assumed it was identical to the inner ring. Anything less secure and she could easily figure out a solution on the go. Anything more and… well, that was more of a problem.

Yawning, she thought more about the guards. There was a reason she wanted to stay in the common room until sunset, and it wasn't just because the colors of the sky looked pretty. Night shift started at nightfall. She had seen with her own eyes the literal changing of the guards. Four new people with four new tells had replaced the daylight workers, who quickly entered the building and then reappeared moments later, following the path towards the outer gate and their homes. One could only surmise that they would be replaced at sunrise. A nicely balanced shift. Perhaps there were changes outside at midday and dinner time as well, but the early morning one was most pertinent to the princess.

Azula turned onto her side, pressing the cool steel of the flame against her lips. She had run over this information a hundred times since the weekend and still she craved more certainty about that outer wall. Ty Lee might be able to help, but asking outright would be idiotic and Azula wasn't quite sure how to strike up a conversation about the guards without seeming suspicious. Niko might be the key again.

Her eyes stared through the darkness of the room at the shadowed figure of the guard. A lone man, with no key to her barred door. But at night, the door to the hallway was always unlocked.  _Another half hour and they should be here._

The time passed slowly, but soon she felt her blood bubble with the imminent sunrise and waited, feigning sleep. Sure enough, for the third early morning in a row, the door to her room opened and a guard filed in for the start of his shift. The night man nodded to the replacement, passed the new hallway guard, and exited the room, heading down the hallway.

She rolled over again and stuffed the crest back into her pillow. Today she would let the guard discover the fresh new burn on her forearm. Tonight and tomorrow she would spend in freezing temperatures. Kai still didn't post anyone inside while she was getting that treatment. She didn't understand how that man was from the Fire Nation; he was far too considerate and unfortunately for him, that might cost him his most valuable patient.

She had made up her mind. Now it was only a matter of time and meticulous planning. There was one way to do this, one chance, and it had to be executed perfectly.

The weekend rolled around quickly and before Ty Lee knew it, she was back at the hospital Saturday afternoon, seeking out Azula. Stopping by to check in with Dr. Liu, she asked if they could go to the common room again. He agreed and retrieved the cuffs and chain before gritting his teeth and clanking them back down on his desk.

Ty Lee looked at him, puzzled, "What's wrong?"

Dr. Liu straightened up and smoothed the front of his white coat, "Would you mind if I brought Azula up here after I ask her a few things?" He spoke in a strange tone, a mix of annoyance and hesitation.

"Oh, um, of course not. I can wait," Ty Lee took a seat opposite the doctor's desk, crossing her legs while her eyes wandered around the room.

"Thank you, I'll only be a moment," he rushed out of the room and down the stairs to Azula's quarters.

Bursting through the door, he strolled right up to the bars and waved for the guard to exit the room. Azula was sitting on her bed with her back against the wall. She had recently taken to stretching and massaging her leg outside of the healing sessions with Minah. The healer said her leg was back to functioning normally, with no lasting muscular damage, but the tenderness would remain for another few weeks. Under the guise of decreasing that recovery time, Azula had begun cycling through her old forms again to prepare for her plans. No one seemed to care.

She stretched her arms out in front of her and ran a hand absentmindedly along her leg. It was still bandaged, but with lighter gauze only wrapped from toes to calf. Azula no longer felt the stray pins and needles ignite her nerves, but the limb still didn't feel completely regular. She was always aware of a strange tightness deep in her muscles.

And then there was the look of it. Still, the jagged pink lines remained and it greatly annoyed Azula. Her skin had lost its flawless pale complexion. The burns she inflicted healed without a trace, but her leg was marred by several thin tracks of lightning damage. She supposed it was  _okay_ , seeing as she had somewhat miraculously done it herself and most of the time she'd be wearing pants or tall boots to cover it anyways. But she still hoped they would fade with time.

The scars were not as obvious as a certain someone's, and for that she was grateful.

Sliding off of her bed, she walked, no longer needing crutches, towards Kai.

"Well, if you're here, I'm guessing someone else is waiting to see me. You remember what you agreed to?" she grinned and crossed her arms.

Her arrogance irked him, but he supposed it was another sign of her budding recovery, "Yes. Lady Ty Lee wishes to take you to the common room again. But I cannot leave you in there unsupervised and unrestrained. I can only allow that in here."

He looked at the woman before him. She had really made great strides since Ty Lee began visiting. Her frame had filled out with regular meals, though she was still quite thin. The guards told him she'd recently taken up daily meditation and Kai knew this was contributing to her diminishing hallucinations and nightmares. His brow twitched at the trace of a burn on her arm.  _I still don't understand those though. Perhaps my earliest thoughts of how she still wants to be in control of something are accurate._

He truly did want to reward the pair of young women with unobstructed privacy. To give her the same visiting rights as his other patients, but his gut told him to be smart. Smart and wary. After all, there were countless stories of her feats in the war, easily controlling men far more difficult to sway.

Azula clicked her tongue, "No. I gave you my word nothing would happen and you gave me yours that you'd see this through."

Kai exhaled through his nose, "That is a breach of protocol. Even with other patients, there is always at least one employee present in the common room."

"Then I'm afraid you'll have to break with tradition," she glanced away from Kai, looking positively bored. "I don't particularly want to stay in there for very long anyways; there are other things on my mind," she purred.

The doctor clenched a hand, "No guards, but you must wear the cuffs and chains."

"Cuffs only."

He bit his tongue, "Fine."

Kai unlocked the door separating the two of them and they set off to his office where Ty Lee waited.

She turned her head quickly at the sound of the door opening and jumped to hug a smug looking Azula. Looking her up and down she exclaimed happily, "You don't need crutches anymore!"

"No, my leg is fine," the princess glanced at Kai and held back a laugh. He was shaking his head and looked like he'd eaten a rotten piece of meat at having given in to her. She called to him in a lilting voice, "Shall we?"

The three walked to the common room, Kai cuffing her more forcefully than he did last weekend, "Return to my office when you're finished in here." He swished away and Azula did not hold back this time. She cackled and proceeded into the empty room, followed by a confused Ty Lee.

"Where are the guards?" she looked around as if they were hiding in one of the couches.

"They're leaving us alone today." She strode over to the bookshelves and began reading the spines of some of the volumes, "These are awful. They're all childish novellas and fables."

Ty Lee was still reeling over the "no guards" announcement, but trailed behind Azula. "What did you expect, history books and maps?"

Azula shrugged, "I hoped." She bent down to grab a Pai Sho board, "Let's play."

They walked over to the table they sat at the previous weekend, in front of the large window. The sun was bright behind some stray clouds, while a gentle breeze tickled the leaves of the few trees on the grounds. Azula set up the board. Ty Lee noticed a speck of green paint on the tabletop and was reminded of something.

"Hey, did you hang up my picture? You should put it right above your bed so it's the first thing you see when you wake up every day. A nice calming—"

"Cluster of seaweed. No, Kai has it in his office, I think." Azula quietly tapped the tiles into place.

Ty Lee's face grew a bit intense and with a rustling sound, she brandished her painting in front of the princess's eyes, "Not anymore! I took it off of a table in his office! And it's a  _meadow_. How come you didn't take it with you? Do you hate it? I think it's pretty good work for a non-painter."

Azula sighed and stopped preparing the game, "It's very good seaweed. I just forgot to take it with me."

"It's not seaweed!" she pouted and set the picture down in her lap so she wouldn't forget to give it to Azula before leaving this time. "Let's just play this dumb game."

Azula smirked and the two began a short tournament of Pai Sho games. Ty Lee had no idea why she agreed to play against a strategist like Azula. The woman had been fed military campaigns and battle situations as a steady diet in early childhood. And her appetite for winning was unmatched.

The princess watched Ty Lee's cutely frustrated face as she tried to think about potential moves. Her mind wandered and she vaguely considered changing her plans to accommodate the woman in front of her. All it took was one memory of an event over a steaming lake and she shook the thought.  _No, just me. I can't trust her_.

Azula rolled her eyes at the unbelievably long time it was taking Ty Lee to choose her moves. She decided to try and lure some more information out of the naïve woman in front of her to pass the time.  _Just get her talking and she'll spill everything on her own._

"I noticed Niko patrolling outside the building last weekend. He must be heartbroken not seeing you every week."

Ty Lee scrunched her face up but her eyes remained focused on the board, "I don't mind. It was getting a little awkward. Besides, I think he likes working outside, he can chat with his friends and gets to walk around."

"Chat? Surely they should be more focused on  _guarding_?"

She finally placed a tile and looked up at Azula, "Mm, I don't know. It's not like there's much to guard out there. I bet it's super boring. Most of the time they just stand around, so having a buddy to talk with at the gates is totally necessary."

Azula played a tile.  _A buddy. Perhaps two non-patrolling guards at each gate, if I take her literally_. She looked out the window and after several minutes of silence, thought aloud, "I hate these gates, they remind me of the walls around the palace."

Ty Lee laughed, "These are way worse! At least the palace walls were made of pretty stone. Metal is so sad to look at. The first time I came here, I thought this place looked really depressing from outside. All of the bars and dingy coloring. Well, it still looks pretty depressing."

"Bars?" she waited for Ty Lee to make her move.

"Yeah, on the windows and the gates. I always wondered if those were there before you came here. It seems like way too much for a regular old hospital."

_Bars on the gates. Since the inner wall is solid metal, does that mean there are bars on its door? Or do bars make up the outer gate? Either way… wrought iron bars can be overcome easily._

Ty Lee moved another tile and Azula sighed again, "You lost about four moves ago. Let's play one more."

She laughed and rubbed her neck, "I've never been that good at playing this. I like team games more."

Azula rearranged the game pieces and Ty Lee launched into a story of a fun game she played a few times on Kyoshi Island. It was something about a ball or sticks or… Azula wasn't really paying attention. When Ty Lee got into a long story, you could usually tune in at the end and get the gist of the entire thing.

"—and then we won! But we had to help the poor old man repair his roof afterward, Suki was so embarrassed," she was swishing her braid across the edge of the table like a paintbrush. She giggled at the memory of her own story and looked up at the princess, eyes catching the burn on her forearm.

"It's been your turn for five minutes," Azula drummed her fingers against the table.

Ty Lee reached out and brushed her fingertips over the burn, two golden eyes following the movement closely.

"I don't know why you're still doing this, but—"

Azula drew her arm away from Ty Lee's touch, "Drop it."

Ty Lee's chest stung, a little hurt at Azula's withdrawal. The princess had told her to not ask about the burns a bunch of times, but Ty Lee couldn't help it. She was worried. If things were better for Azula, why did she still want to hurt herself? The question was on the tip of her tongue, but she held back and nodded instead.

Azula swiftly ended the game and began sweeping the board and tiles back into their box, handcuffs jingling. She stood and replaced it on its shelf, turning back to look at Ty Lee from across the room.  _What is she doing?_

Still seated at the table, the acrobat stared blankly out the window. Azula approached her and spoke, shaking her out of whatever trance she'd gone into, "Come on. I have something for you downstairs."


	19. Chapter 19

Ty Lee's head snapped up and she looked skeptically at Azula. How could she have anything for her here?  _All of the things she has are from me_. She scooped up her picture and walked side by side with Azula back to Kai's office, taking a few opportunities to brush their shoulders together. He followed them down to the basement, unlocked the barred door, and removed Azula's handcuffs, giving her a sharp look.

"If you need anything, knock on the door," he eyed Azula warily again, but true to his word, left the two girls alone. A key clicked in the main door's lock.

Ty Lee was bewildered for the second time that day.  _He left the bars open._ The princess walked into her room and stood with her back to the door. She rubbed her wrists and called out, "Come over here."

Ty Lee followed, clutching the painting in her hand, and suddenly remembered that Azula said she had something for her. She smiled and propped the picture up against one of the walls. A few silent moments passed and Ty Lee slowly approached Azula's back, about to ask what amazing gift the princess prepared. But Azula spoke first.

"I wanted to thank you for…"  _How do I put this without sounding completely soft?_  "…winning Kai over enough that he allowed us to go in the common room last weekend," she gripped her arms tightly, the words still sounding dreadfully sappy coming from her mouth. She breathed, "So I asked a favor of him too."

The princess's stomach felt a little queasy. She wanted this  _badly_ , but her mind still betrayed her with thoughts of unease and betrayal.  _Why do this with someone like her? She doesn't deserve it._ Azula closed her eyes.  _I made up my mind last week. I have a plan. I want this first. And then it'll be over._

She turned around. Ty Lee was half expecting her to be holding some fantastic present, but her hands were empty. Her words slowly soaked into Ty Lee's brain. The awkwardly adorable thank you stirred her heart.  _She never thanks me. Or anyone. For anything. What is she planning?_

"O-oh, it was no big deal. He likes you, you know. I think he wants you to do normal things just as much as I do, but I give him the push to actually do it. It's funny, sometimes I—"

"Ty Lee," Azula interrupted her and as soon as their eyes met, Ty Lee's mind went blank. For possibly the first time ever, she thought she knew exactly what was on Azula's mind. Her expression, her eyes, all spoke of one thing. The princess stepped forward, an outstretched hand toying with the waistband of Ty Lee's pants, "Stop talking."

She swallowed at the demand and felt chills spread up her spine at the feel of Azula's hand at her hip.  _Yeah. Yep. I know what she wants._ Liquid gold pools trapped her in place and she thought she would drown for sure when soft lips met her own.

Azula's hand sent sparks up Ty Lee's back, drifting upwards to settle on her neck and bring them closer together. The kiss was slow and gentle. Azula put the words she didn't like to say out loud into her initial actions and hoped Ty Lee got the message.

_Since when does she ever kiss like this? She must have really liked that window view_. Ty Lee rested her arms over Azula's shoulders and ran her fingers through impossibly fine, raven hair. They leaned into each other, arousal slowing building. Azula nipped at Ty Lee's bottom lip and then abruptly spun them around. She nudged Ty Lee backwards onto her bed, knees bent over the side, and climbed on top of her.

A once sweetly innocent kiss was now escalating fast. Ty Lee watched the princess close in on her lips again, this time their tongues met ferociously. She pulled on Azula's head to deepen the heated kiss as her own head grew dizzy.

Azula broke the contact, their noses brushing together briefly, and licked down Ty Lee's jaw to suck at a tender spot where her shoulder joined her neck. A breathy sigh escaped the acrobat and she turned away to further expose the area. Her body was covered in goosebumps, whether from the cool air or Azula's touches, she wasn't sure nor did she care. At the feel of warm hands creeping beneath her shirt, Ty Lee sharply inhaled.

"Az— 'zula, wait," she looked into the lustful eyes of the princess hovering above her and shivered, "What if the guards come in?"

Azula licked her lips as a knowing smirk played across her face.

"I told you, they won't be bothering us today." She trailed her hand up one of Ty Lee's inner thighs, stopping just before she reached that oh-so-desirable spot. Ty Lee's eyes fluttered shut and she swallowed at the princess's sinful voice, "That's the favor I requested." She placed several open mouth kisses on Ty Lee's neck while pressing her hand between the woman's legs.

"So let me take my time."

Ty Lee shuddered and gladly gave in. She propped herself up on her elbows and dragged Azula onto her so they were pressed hopelessly close together. She initiated another, messier kiss and moaned softly at a familiar heat building in her abdomen.

Azula sat up, bringing Ty Lee with her as she straddled her waist. Still attached at the mouth, Azula's hands toyed with the long braid atop the woman's head before she undid both ribbons and combed her fingers through the faintly fruity scented chestnut hair. She resumed sucking at Ty Lee's neck and untangling her hands from the wavy tresses, she tugged the woman's shirt over her head.

Long waves spilled over Ty Lee's shoulders, skin faintly flushed, chest rising and falling rapidly beneath a lacy pink bra. She sat back, bit her lip and stared at Azula through hooded eyes. The princess quickly removed the obstructing item of clothing and gazed appreciatively at the sight before her. She thought Ty Lee looked absolutely delicious, so she bent her head to have a taste.

Ty Lee's head lolled back at the feel of a hot mouth on her breast.  _She's too much. Oh Agni, I'm like an addict_.

Azula swirled her tongue around a stiffening nipple and ran a hand up Ty Lee's side to massage her other breast. Ty Lee was panting shallowly now, eyes watching Azula's mouth at work. She let out a drawn out whimper when Azula bit and tugged with her teeth.

The princess continued this treatment for several minutes, careful to keep her hands above Ty Lee's waist. She always enjoyed a little teasing, pushing people to their limits. She switched her mouth to the other breast and within a minute, Ty Lee tugged gently at Azula's hair, making her straighten up to meet her gaze. The eye contact sent fresh chills through her body.

"Azula," she whispered huskily and slightly ground her hips upward into the princess's, "please."

With her legs spread across Ty Lee's lap, the little movement sent spikes of pleasure through Azula and she blinked slowly. But she decided to toy with the woman for just one more second.

"Please what?" she leaned in and bit the lobe of Ty Lee's ear.

" _Ah_ , I need more," Ty Lee's hands wound themselves tightly in the back of Azula's plain red shift.

"More what?" her hand moved lightly between them, running along the waistband of dark pink pants.

"More of that. More of everything. I need you," she was done playing along with Azula's teasing. She kissed her desperately, taking the princess's hand and plunging it shamelessly beneath her clothes.

Azula felt her own need grow at the feel of Ty Lee wet and wanting. She returned the kiss fiercely, pulling back to lay eyes on an incredibly aroused woman. Ty Lee's cheeks were tinted in the pink color she adored so much and her eyebrows twitched together when Azula ran her middle finger along her slick heat.

The princess pushed Ty Lee flush against the bed and knelt on the floor between her legs. She hooked her fingers around the woman's pants and underwear, removing them painfully slowly. Discarding the clothes on the floor, she nudged Ty Lee's knees apart and bit her lip in anticipation. She sat up further and ran her hands from Ty Lee's breasts, down the sides of her abdomen, gripping her legs, pulling her closer to the edge of the bed. Azula placed hot kisses from her navel, down, down, down, before….

Ty Lee couldn't help her hips bucking upwards as Azula ran her tongue along her. She pushed her head back into the mattress and groaned loudly.

"Mmm oh  _fuck_ ," Ty Lee muttered all kinds of curses as Azula continued exploring every bit of her. She arched her back at the sudden feel of a slender finger pushing inside.

The princess focused her mouth on sucking at Ty Lee's clit, while her finger steadily drove into her. She was unravelling quickly, shifting restlessly on the bed. Ty Lee's hands moved from touching her own breasts to gripping the bed sheets, fast approaching the top of the cliff she climbed.

" _Azula-ahh, just like that, right there, oh spirits,_ " a stream of nearly incoherent phrases tumbled from her mouth while Azula's gifted tongue and fingers worked their magic on her.

Azula added another finger and experimentally curled them rapidly back and forth to hit different angles inside of the writhing woman before her, until one particular rough spot caused Ty Lee to shout in pleasure while she held Azula's head against her. Taking note, the princess hit the same area repeatedly until Ty Lee lost it.

"I-I'm gonna…" before she even got the words out, she moaned shakily, body twitching out of her control. Azula slowed her motions and lightly flicked her tongue over Ty Lee's clit several more times before standing up to join her on the bed.

She grinned at her handiwork. Ty Lee was panting, breasts rising and falling seductively. One of her arms was crossed over her eyes as she regained composure. Azula leaned down and spoke smugly in her ear, "I know it wasn't  _shampoo_ , but I hope you liked your gift."

Ty Lee uncovered her face and smiled, completely relaxed as the endorphins rushed through her, "Sorry, but I think I'm going to have to give it back." She turned her head and kissed Azula's confusion away. The shakiness of her legs had subsided and she crawled atop Azula this time, "Come on, you don't think I'd leave you hanging, right?"

Azula didn't even have time to protest, not that she wanted to. Ty Lee pulled them upright and pushed Azula's hospital clothes up and over her body, leaving her in simple breast bindings and underwear. She nudged the princess back into the pillows and made quick work of removing all of her clothes, careful to keep from disturbing her leg's bandages.

Black hair splayed out on the red blanket and Ty Lee flashed back to after Ba Sing Se. She lay down next to Azula and placed small kisses across her face, "You're so gorgeous."

Ty Lee lacked the self-restraint needed to tease a person until they couldn't take it anymore. That was more Azula's style anyways. She was gentle, not as bitey as the princess, and she began to trail soft kisses along her jawline. Simultaneously, her hand grazed over Azula's small breasts and she felt the princess move into the touch.

Azula's breath hitched as she felt Ty Lee's thigh wedge between her own. She stifled a moan, but a whimper escaped and betrayed her enjoyment.

Ty Lee breathed hotly, watching as the princess ground into her thigh, "Agni, you're  _dripping_."

Azula's eyelids fluttered at the lewd remark. Hearing dirty things come from Ty Lee's usually innocent lips only fueled her growing arousal. She pictured those same lips between her legs and exhaled. Impatient, she wrapped her arm around Ty Lee and pressed the top of her head down. Getting the hint right away, Ty Lee removed her leg from between Azula's thighs and began tracing her fingers down the princess's flat stomach. She wasn't as bony as when Ty Lee first saw her months ago. The observation made her smile.

She followed the trail her fingers made with her mouth, briefly flicking her tongue over Azula's nipples, and then chastely kissing down her body. Her own arousal flared again at the thought of doing these sorts of things to  _Princess Azula_. Seeing her at her most intimate state was something most people never even imagined.

Her tongue reached the princess's sensitive heat. Ty Lee wasn't sure if it was because Azula was a firebender or what, but when she pushed a finger inside of her, the surrounding warmth was incredible. She followed the same pattern that Azula had minutes earlier. Ty Lee alternated between applying generous pressure against Azula's clit with her tongue, and sucking on it. Her finger moved easily inside the wet walls, so she added another and moved faster.

Azula whimpered yet again.  _Come on,_ Ty Lee urged silently,  _let me hear you properly_. She sped up, moving her head rapidly back and forth between Azula's legs, feeling her tense, trying to hold back the inevitable.

Ty Lee switched their position, moving back up Azula's body to claim her lips and palm her breast. She straddled one of Azula's thighs, so their legs alternated, and ground down on the princess's leg. Azula's eyes closed again when she felt Ty Lee's wetness slide over her. She quickly began doing the same, grinding up Ty Lee's other thigh. They were pressed together, breast to breast, a panting mass of tangled limbs.

The acrobat tucked a lock of dark hair behind Azula's ear and nipped gently at the cartilage. Azula shuddered as she heard a whisper in her ear, "Come on, Princess, I know you're close."

All of the sensations were overloading Azula's mind.  _She's so warm, she's so wet, it feels so good_. Ty Lee sucked hard at the base of Azula's neck and used her left hand to roll and pinch one of the princess's nipples.

The whimpers were coming stronger and faster now, escaping with each exhalation of Azula's. She brought her arms up to encircle Ty Lee and hold her close. Her thrusts onto the woman's thigh grew erratic and rough. Ty Lee continued whispering in her ear:

"Mm, Princess, you feel so good."

_So do you_.

"I've missed doing this."

_I have too_.

"You like fucking me, don't you?'

_Yes..._

"I can still taste you on my tongue."

_Oh…_

The words and physical feelings were too much. Azula clung to Ty Lee, digging short nails into her back as her hips jerked wildly, finally hitting that release. She panted and let out a series of short breathy moans, trying to quiet them by biting into Ty Lee's shoulder.

Ty Lee gasped at the strangely pleasurable sting of the bite, "Don't hold back, I love hearing you like that."

Azula's body twitched with aftershocks and she released her grip over Ty Lee. She kissed the princess's nose and then rolled off of her to lay by her side, pulling the dislodged blanket over them.

Ty Lee turned her head to look at Azula. Her breathing was coming fast and shallow, golden eyes hidden behind closed eyelids. Her normally pallid cheeks were tinged with the barest touch of color and her lips were swollen from kisses.  _She looks incredible_.

They lay in comfortable silence for several minutes, recovering from their recent euphoria.

Ty Lee's mind wandered. Unfortunately, it kept wandering to a particularly sore topic: Mai. Since Ty Lee and Azula had just had sizzling hot sex, her evil imagination couldn't help but replace all of the things she'd just done, with Mai doing them instead. She had mostly resolved this conflict with the young ambassador and knew that the two hadn't slept together, but she wanted to, had to, hear it from Azula.  _This is a bad, stupid idea. Why do I need to ask? I don't. Don't ask her, she'll get mad. She hates Mai. But I_ have  _to. I have to talk about it or I'll just keep thinking about it. No, don't do it, don't—_

"Hey, Azula," she began warily, suddenly very interested in the thread-count of the pillowcases, "how-how come you did… stuff with Mai?"

Azula inhaled deeply, seemingly rousing from a light rest. She turned her head to face Ty Lee with knitted brows, "Does it matter?"

"I don't know, I just can't stop thinking about it," Ty Lee fiddled with the pillowcase, avoiding Azula's eyes. "She said it was just one time… before she left for Omashu."

"It seems she already told you about it. What's left to tell? We fooled around, so what?"

"You made it seem like you guys slept together!"

"It's not my fault if that's how you understood it." Honestly Azula had  _hoped_  Ty Lee would misinterpret the wording from months earlier. The further Ty Lee thought they went, the more painful it would be for her. Azula did not feel the usual sense of guilt over her actions this time. Lies were easy. "Besides, it was really  _me_ doing all of the fun. Like you said, Mai was a bit of a prude."

Ty Lee couldn't help feeling relieved at that news.

"But why say anything at all? You both kept it secret for so long, why did you bring it up months ago in here?" Ty Lee stuttered, "W-why with her?"

Azula sighed, her nice afterglow effectively ruined. She considered her options for responding and perhaps because of the sun gazing visit last weekend or because of the presence of a small metal flame beneath her pillow, she decided on honesty, "Because you left."

"Huh?"

"You left to join the circus. Mai was still around. If… had you not left… I wanted to do those things with you, but you were so obsessed with boys, I figured you wouldn't want to. Mai was uninterested in everyone. It was easier."

Ty Lee finally met Azula's eyes. She was taken aback by her words. Mai had told her similar things months and months ago, but hearing them from Azula's mouth was different.  _"Because you left." She was hurt when I went away._

"So you just used her because I wasn't around? Did you… did you just want to use me for that too?"

Azula chewed on the inside of her cheek, "No."

_Oh. So Mai was right, she did care about me in her own weird, teasing, kind of cruel way. And then I left for the circus before ever finding that out._

She scooched closer to Azula and grasped her hands, "Azula,  _of course_  I would have… I didn't know you felt that way, I'm sorry."

"Would it have mattered if you did?" Azula frowned and shifted her eyes downward, quickly losing the strength to have such an intimate conversation.  _Mean quips are better_.

Ty Lee watched the shadow cross her face and squeezed her hands a little tighter, "What do you mean?"

The princess huffed, uncomfortable and clearly indecisive about whether to pursue this topic or drop it immediately. She ended up speaking a little more gruffly than she intended, "If you had known that I… would you have stayed?"

Ty Lee flinched slightly at the question, a sinking feeling that they were slowly treading into familiar hostile territory about a certain day from their past. Azula saw the reaction. And Azula knew the answer.

"Would you have ever come back if I didn't go recruit you?" She brought her eyes to face Ty Lee's, anger and hurt resided there, betraying her otherwise stoic face.

"Azula, I…"  _I don't know for sure_ , "The circus was really good for me and I loved being there." Pause. "But I would have gone back to visit you, we were friends. Leaving the circus was… hard, but we got so much closer chasing the Avatar and I'm really happy about that." Ty Lee left out the terrifying event of balancing over a burning net.

Azula's face fell.  _So while you were in the circus, you might have come back out of obligation, not because you wanted to. Am I that unbearable? No. No…_ Her eyes closed at this most unpleasant doubt. One that had bothered her for years in this place. A new question pushed to the forefront of Azula's mind, "If we had been together before you ran off to the circus, would you have acted differently at the Boiling Rock?"

_There it is_. Ty Lee's throat constricted, "I had to stop you guys. I would always choose to stop you guys from hurting each oth—"

"Then I guess it's a good thing we weren't. That would have just made it worse," Azula ripped her hands out of Ty Lee's and rolled over to face the other direction.

Ty Lee's panicked voice squeaked out, "Azula, please, I didn't think it would end up like this. I'm sorry."

"Oh  _stop_  saying that. Mai and everyone else are doing just fine thanks to you. You'll never be sorry, so don't you dare lie to me," her temper was rising.

"I'm not sorry I jumped to her side. And she's not sorry she saved Zuko. I'm only sorry it had to come to what it did," she took a shuddering breath and spoke in barely a whisper, "It's not like we enjoy what happened because of that day. We don't even talk about it."

Azula's lip trembled.  _All for precious Zuko. It's always for Zuko. Everyone vacates my life like it's the easiest thing in the world, but spirits forbid if Zuko got a taste._

She sat up suddenly and picked her clothes off the floor, pulling the red shift over her head.

"Well that's just wonderful. Lock me up and throw away the key. You two certainly aren't the first to walk away, though you are repeat offenders," she spat bitterly.

_Mother. Ty Lee. Mai. Zuko. Mai. Ty Lee. Father._  She clutched her head, trying to stop the recently repressed thoughts from drowning her again.  _It's all Zuko's fault. What is so damn special about him? What is so repulsive about me?_

Her heart ached and her throat burned and she hated every one of them all over again.

Ty Lee sat up, heavy with guilt from starting this train wreck of a conversation.  _Stupid, all because I wanted to hear about her and Mai._ She also slipped off of the bed to gather her scattered clothes and re-dress. Azula sat with her head in her hand, face hidden by long black locks.

"I didn't mean to make it seem like I abandoned you. I'm sorry for that, I never wanted to hurt you," she stated quietly and quickly re-braided her hair.

"Stop with your hollow apologies. Just stop. Don't say the words if you don't mean them."

"I  _do_  mean them, why don't you believe me?" she moved a bit closer to Azula, but recoiled almost immediately when the princess lifted her head and glared daggers at her.

"Oh I don't know, Ty Lee. What could possibly have happened to make me distrust you?" Azula was furious. Her eyes glittered with anger.

Ty Lee looked at her, horrified, "I know you hate what I did, but I can't change it. I don't know how to help you get through this." She extended her hand towards Azula, who promptly slapped it away.

"I don't want your pity. Every time I see your face, I can feel your fingers chi block me. You have no idea what it's like to…" she stopped abruptly before her words escaped.  _To utterly despise and want someone simultaneously_. She felt tears beginning to form, but blinked them away and stared coldly at Ty Lee, snarling.

"I  _hate_ you _._ I'm glad I told you about Mai. I'm thrilled it got under your skin. Doesn't it feel awful? To be so suddenly informed that things aren't what you thought?"

Ty Lee watched Azula sadly, her own tears spilling silently down her cheeks.  _So she told me about Mai on purpose, she meant to hurt my feelings. To make me feel something similar to how she felt that day._  Despite the pain in her chest, she wanted to stay and hug and comfort Azula for as long as she had to, but she knew the princess had finally lost the good mood she'd built up over the past few weeks. Again, guilt jabbed her gut. And instead of listening to her heart like she usually did, rationality won out and she spoke quietly.

"I'll leave you alone," Ty Lee stood from the bed and walked towards the door. She took one last look at Azula, heart begging her not to leave the broken girl by herself, not to give up right now like everyone else had. The princess bent her head, but watched Ty Lee through the curtain of hair shading her face.

_I made you leave again. Don't leave again._ Azula refused to say the words out loud and squeezed the edge of her mattress instead.

Before her heart could speak for itself, Ty Lee's fist knocked on the door. With each thud, she felt her stomach sink. Knock.  _I want to stay._ Knock.  _Tell me to stay._ Knock.  _I care about you._

A guard unlocked the door and stood aside for Ty Lee to pass. She left the room wiping away more tears, not glancing at Azula again.

The princess watched Ty Lee's braid swish out of view and she curled up on her bed. The guard resumed his watch and locked the barred door to her room. Azula's heart pounded in protest for sending away quite possibly the last person who believed in her. But her brain trudged forward.  _You don't need people you can't trust. No matter how much you might like them. Those feelings lead to complacency and then the inevitable betrayal will be worse, tenfold._

She'd made up her mind about proceeding with her escape within the next few weeks. She just had to test the brittleness of the bars and would ask Kai for another moment of privacy soon.  _I need to be as alert as possible. No distractions._

Even as the thought crossed her mind, her hand rested over the bed she'd just shared with Ty Lee.  _I hate this. I hate her. I hate Zuko._

She screamed suddenly, releasing some of the frustration she felt. Azula gripped her wrist and poured all of the heat she could muster into a spectacular burn, adding pain into her frustrated cry. The guard was startled at the outburst and pounded on the door, shouting for the hallway guard to go get the doctor. He then quickly opened the bars and pried Azula's steaming hand away from her wrist. She was a wreck. Stray tears leaked from her eyes occasionally, her hair was mussed from earlier, and now she sported a vicious burn on her wrist.

_I hate them. I hate them. I hate them._

She shrieked and wrestled with the guard, landing a few punches and kicks to anywhere she could reach. He struggled to restrain her irregular movements. Kai arrived after a few moments and seeing the disastrous scene before him, rushed inside. He regretfully took a syringe of sedative from his satchel and injected its contents into Azula's thigh.

Her resistance soon slowed and she slumped into the guard. A strange desire from the abandoned depths of her heart had somehow pushed its way through her madness and made her chest hurt.

_Come back._

_Anyone._


	20. Chapter 20

Zuko sat at his desk, head drooping over a newly opened letter from Dr. Liu. He closed his eyes and for the first time in months, decided to dedicate the rest of his night to thinking solely about his little sister. She was always lurking in the back of his mind, but he felt increasingly guilty about ignoring the thoughts. He often heard whispers of his supposed neglectful treatment of the still Fire Nation Princess and Ty Lee openly accused him of the same, only with nicer words. With this letter, his guilt was reborn.

In it, Dr. Liu recounted the most recent hysterical episode Azula had: deliberately inflicting a nasty burn on her wrist in full view of the guard, resisting said guard's attempts to subdue her, and tearfully screaming about something Dr. Liu presumed had to do with Ty Lee's visit that day. Azula had yet to speak to the doctor about the matter. Zuko doubted she would.

The young Fire Lord put his head in his hands and felt his heart breaking. All of his attempts to do what he thought was best for Azula were failing miserably. Admittedly, the drastic cooling efforts were not his proudest moment. When Ty Lee revealed that Azula had been in a near comatose state from her body temperature being too low, he'd felt extreme guilt and a slew of doubts and questions settled in his mind.  _What if something had gone wrong and Azula had died? I would have been fully responsible for it_.

Ty Lee was right: cooling was a harsh punishment for any firebender, but for Azula, Zuko imagined it would be downright world-ending. Not being able to feel the warmth of fire coursing through your veins…

He swept a hair that had loosened from his topknot out of his face.  _What am I supposed to do though? She's dangerous, a threat to herself and others. She must be kept contained. Isn't that the only way?_ He knew it wasn't, but he didn't know a solution either. And since he hadn't actually spoken to his sister in some time, he was even less sure of the proper course to take. Their already crumbled relationship was on the verge of disintegrating altogether.

The distance he'd put between them after he sided with the Avatar had only deepened once he stopped going to see her. He had hoped so desperately that she would seek out Dr. Liu's help of her own volition, but it seemed she was as stubborn as he was about opening up to people. The only difference was, when he finally opened up, people tried to understand and help him grow. When she allowed people to get close to her, to see her true colors, those people often ended up leaving her behind on her own.

She had only let a few select people into her life and every single one of them had left her. Again, an ache formed inside him. He supposed it was mostly her fault, right? She was so cruel, even to the people closest to her. It made her difficult to tolerate and eventually, when it reached a breaking point, they chose to leave for their own good.

_A lot of that had to do with you, you know_.

He winced at the old accusation thrown at him from deep within his mind and soon fell into a darkly familiar train of thought.

_Mother favored you. She left to protect you. Uncle always sided with you and even joined you in your banishment. You sided with the Avatar. Mai chose you over Azula. And Ty Lee chose Mai as an extension of that. The only one she had was Father and you know how kind and caring he is. Besides, even he discarded her at the end._

Zuko rested his head against the high back of his chair and looked at the ceiling painted with curling plumes of smoke and twisting dragons. His eyes traced their outlines and he wondered why everyone sided as they had. Certainly those people didn't want to stay with him for his charming personality. Even he knew his reputation as a somewhat angsty awkward man.

He supposed it was because Azula was the only one that stuck with the traditional ideals of the Fire Nation that Father and Sozin so vehemently practiced. The supremacy and power of their nation over the others. She was fiercely loyal to her country and that had cost her everything.

Really, she had lived by the books. A hard working, prodigious bender by age eight. Bitingly smart in every subject at school with a particular proclivity for mathematics and history. Adept at military strategies by her teenage years. Father had sculpted her in his image. The image of the  _old_  Fire Nation. Not the one that was needed in this new and dramatically changing world.

With the rise of the Avatar and his peaceful teachings of unification and teamwork, her traditionalist principles stood on rocky ground. Zuko understood and adapted to the new changes. He saw the need for the Fire Nation to grow beyond its selfish ideals, but Azula staunchly stood by Father. After all, she was raised solely by him. For her, his teachings were absolute and unquestionable. Anything else would seem treasonous.

He sighed, blinking slowly at a navy blue and black scaled dragon on the ceiling.  _If Father wasn't so horrible, Azula and I might be ruling this nation together._  Zuko's eyes followed the shining scales of the dragon and he abruptly remembered his earliest memory.

A black-haired baby lay sleeping in an ornately crafted crib at his mother's bedside. Zuko tottered over on stubby two and a half year old legs and peeked through the little bars at his baby sister. Her little swaddled chest rose and fell gently as she napped. Zuko stuck his hand through the bars and poked her chubby cheek. Two gold eyes snapped open immediately and he stepped back, almost tripping in surprise.

Still, she didn't make a sound. Baby Azula just watched him curiously as he stood near her again and smiled. Though he was still learning how to string sentences together, he was quickly absorbing all kinds of words. Zuko placed a little hand on his sister's foot and whispered, "Zuwa."

She blinked as he repeated the sound a bunch of times. Azula watched him hop up and down excitedly in front of her, as he tried to make her do  _something_ other than lay there so boringly. He made goofy faces and silly sounds, but still she just blinked.

He pouted at her indifference and rubbed his eyes, getting a little sleepy himself. Just before he left to find his mother, he poked her cheek again and then touched his chest, "Zuko."

No reaction. Being a big brother was  _hard_. He spun around to give up and take a nap, but just as he did so, he heard a gurgling sound behind him. Zuko rushed back to the crib and found Azula staring blankly at him again. He frowned, looking at her, confused but determined to see her smile.

Zuko turned around again, thinking that maybe she thought the sight of him walking away was funny, but she didn't make a sound. He returned and tapped his chest again, "Zuko."

Azula blinked her little gold eyes and then cooed happily. Zuko giggled and bounced on his feet, hands gripping the crib, "Zuko! Zuko! Zuko!"

Ursa entered the room, smiling contentedly at her two children. Zuko heard her come in and ran over, pulling her towards the crib to show how he made his normally silent baby sister laugh.

Fire Lord Zuko felt his throat tighten at the memory of innocent times, as more images burst before his eyes. The rare occasions of them playing in the courtyards and gardens of the palace, before sibling rivalry and Father-fueled competition dominated their interactions. With effort, he swallowed. It was no use fixating on the past; he had to think of what to do now. Putting energy in to help his sister was long overdue.

The past few weeks had been uneventful and the doctor's updates were absent of any sort of conflict concerning Azula. Zuko thought she'd finally broken some mysterious invisible barrier on the way to fully recovering, but with this newest breakdown his optimism was shattered.

_Crying and screaming_. A chill ran down his spine, despite the heat of the room. Zuko had only seen his sister cry one time; a time he would rather forget.

Beneath a comet streaked sky, Azula raged against the chains that bound her to the grate at her feet, spitting fire madly, shrieking and crying awful tears. The image was seared into his brain just as permanently as the burn on his face. He remembered not being able to look away as he saw her swallowed by insanity. It was terrifying and at that moment, he was consumed by a deep heaviness in his chest.

He grimaced at the memory.  _So many years ago, yet she still has these outbursts at the hospital. She's scarred just as badly as I am, only in a different way... All because of Father._

Zuko sighed deeply, still staring at the ceiling.  _Dr. Liu thinks it had something to do with Ty Lee_. He thought back and suddenly realized that the cooling hadn't been implemented until after Ty Lee began visiting. And she'd had some role in this recent fit.  _Perhaps her visits are doing more harm than good_. Zuko tugged on his lengthening beard.  _But there_ was _a lull in negative reports for several weeks…_

He made a noise of frustration, causing a guard to stick his head in the room and ask if everything was alright. Zuko waved him away, thinking about a new parameter to keep his sister in check. After several minutes of debate, he opened a drawer of his desk and pulled out two spare bits of parchment, a brush, and an ink well. He carefully wrote the letters, sealing them with hot wax melted by his own flame, and called for the guard to send them on a hawk in the morning.

_I should see her. Or at least meet personally with Dr. Liu to figure things out._

Standing, he left the room and walked aimlessly around the empty palace, not yet ready for bed. A trio of guards trailed behind him, but he was long used to the lack of privacy he had roaming these halls. His feet carried him first to his mother's old room, then to a cozy meeting room he enjoyed, and then somewhere he hadn't entered in a long time.

He pushed open the door to Azula's room and found it as barren as the day he'd ordered her things packed away.  _That was… two years ago._ He had held out hope that she would get better after the comet and return to the palace, but the sad reality set in after two years of little change at the mental institute. Her clothes, trinkets, books, and numerous, possibly infinite, firebending scrolls were all boxed up and moved out of sight. Seeing the empty room, Zuko felt a little bad at having stripped his sister's personality from it.

The light from the hallway projected an elongated rectangle through the doorway towards the windows. Zuko walked inside to draw the curtains back and let the dim moonlight in. The ethereal white beams melted into the yellow light from the hall. He coughed lightly at the dust spilling from the curtains and rested one hand on the wall, leaning his forehead against the cool glass panes of the window overlooking the training compound below.

He closed his eyes. _What am I supposed to do about her? I don't know. I don't know. I've never known. She's my sister and I don't know how to talk to or help her._

Zuko slammed his fist against the wall. With gritted teeth, he watched tears drip down his nose onto the windowsill of his little sister's bedroom and wished the sound of his name was still all it took to soothe her.


	21. Chapter 21

Ty Lee was barely aware of going to work the Monday following her visit with Azula. She tended the merchandise and spoke to her kindly old boss and customers whenever she was questioned, but otherwise she was out of it. Her mind replayed everything about Saturday.

It had started out well enough in the common room. And then it got unbelievably better in a way Ty Lee hadn't even thought was possible, given the environment they were limited by. And then…  _Then I opened my mouth again_.

She huffed quietly to herself as she folded a few fancy blouses before the boutique closed.

Azula was hurting more than she let on. Not that she ever let on about  _any_  feelings she may or may not be having. Ty Lee foolishly hoped that her borderline happiness the last few weeks meant that she'd resolved some of her past pains. This hope was totally crushed as soon as the toxic subject of the Boiling Rock was brought up again.

_ I don't know what else I'm supposed to say about that day. I would never let either of them hurt each other, and at that moment Mai was in the right. I did the right thing and I would do it again. _

Unfortunately, this line of reasoning only enraged Azula. Ty Lee figured it was because someone so close to her had pulled a one-eighty reversal on her priorities.  _I would be hurt too, but I'd be able to move on. Right?_

Then again… Ty Lee had other people to fall back and rely on if something like that happened. Her entire family was there for her, plus Mai, the Kyoshi Warriors, and even Zuko. Azula had, well, no one. Her bond with her mother had deep-seated troubles and Ursa was long suspected dead anyways, her uncle never tried to understand or be there for her, her two best friends deserted her at the same time, the relationship with her brother was hostile at best, and her father was imprisoned with rumors swirling that he'd spurned her help at the end of the war.

Ty Lee supposed she would feel enraged and hopeless too if that was her situation. It certainly would make accepting and recovering harder. Her throat tightened as she recalled the awful fight they had.

" _I hate you."_

A noise called out somewhere in the distance.

"Ty Lee?"

She had frozen midway through folding a blouse and raised her tearful eyes to face her boss.

"Oh, dear, what's the matter? Are you alright?"

Ty Lee didn't speak right away, as she tried to hold back the sobs racing to escape her mouth. It was no use, they forced their way out and Ty Lee stood with her hands pressed into her eyes thinking about how absolutely awful everything was. The pink of her aura was slowly being sucked away.

The old lady took the blouse from her hands, quickly folding it before leading Ty Lee to the back room. She sat her down on a little stool and brought her a steaming cup of tea. Ty Lee didn't bother trying to sip it and just slumped over on her knees.  _I just want to help you, to be with you._

_ It's never going to happen, is it? _

Her boss let her cry softly in the back, while she finished closing up the shop. Ty Lee apologized profusely when her tears subsided and the woman just smiled sadly, wishing her well and telling her to take tomorrow off.

Ty Lee left the boutique in the early evening and strode straight home, unsure if her tears had stopped for good or just for a brief intermission. She didn't want to run through the streets of the city sobbing over their fallen princess, so she heightened her pace.

Entering her apartment, Ty Lee slipped into some comfy clothes and put a little kettle on for tea. It boiled quickly and she opened a cupboard to grab a mug. Her hand paused over an unopened bottle of rice wine. Grabbing it and the mug, she unsealed the bottle and poured a generous amount for herself. Ty Lee didn't drink too often, but after this weekend and today, she felt like she could use one. Bottle.

The kettle whistled softly and she took it off the heat, sipping the alcohol instead. She threw together a meager dinner of rice and some spicy roasted meat, continuing to nurse her drink until it was gone. Ty Lee ate quickly and decided to pour another mugful of the rice wine. Having not eaten much before dinner, her head was already feeling a little light.

She moved from the kitchen area to her bedroom and flipped the light on by her bed. Ty Lee was about to draw the curtains shut and collapse into her blankets, when she noticed an envelope wedged in the tiny window space she'd left open. Fearing the worst from Dr. Liu, she tore it from the window, ripping it in half in her haste.

Cursing softly under her breath she pulled the letter from the envelope and matched the pieces together. As she did so, she noticed the royal seal. Breathing a sigh of relief, she began to read Zuko's handwriting.

She read it once. Twice. Her eyes sped over the short script a third time and she felt her throat burning again. Before she realized what she was doing, she'd already downed her second drink, put her shoes back on, and was running out the door to fall back on one of her people in a time of need.

It was still early enough that Ty Lee was not worried about Mai being asleep. As she ran through the streets, she clutched the torn letter in her hand, repeating its already memorized contents to herself:

_ Ty Lee, _

_ Due to recent events, I have to ask that you stop visiting Azula. I have already instructed Dr. Liu to not allow you inside if you go anyways, as I suspect you might. _

_ You are welcome to come to the palace to discuss this further. _

_ Zuko _

Ty Lee skidded to a halt in front of Mai's house and seeing a few lights flickering in the windows, she pounded loudly on the door. A window creaked open above her and Mai poked her head out to see who was making such a racket on a Monday evening. She sighed.  _Should have known._

"Hold on, I was just about to draw a bath," she shut the window and Ty Lee heard the lock in the door click after a minute. Mai opened the door wearing a silky looking dark red robe, her long hair was completely down and fell prettily against her back. "Hey, what's—?"

Ty Lee immediately burst into tears and ambushed her in a tight hug. Mai awkwardly shuffled backwards to lead them off of the street and into her house. She had a strong hunch this had something to do with Azula.

Mai pried Ty Lee's arms from around her waist and sat her quietly sobbing friend into one of the armchairs by the empty fireplace. She sat in the opposite chair and waited until Ty Lee finally regained enough composure to speak.

"What happened?" Mai folded her arms across her body. The silky robe she wore was embroidered beautifully with flames and flowers, but it was thin and not at all warm.

Ty Lee wiped her eyes, one hand still clutching the letter. Her head was starting to swim in the effects of her indulgence. She handed the two halves of crumpled paper over to Mai, knowing she wouldn't be able to read it out loud herself.

Mai's eyes quickly scanned the writing and her forehead wrinkled briefly, needing more information, "What "recent events" happened to make him ban you from seeing her?"

The former acrobat stared down at her lap, lip trembling. Only then did she realize that she had run out of her apartment in pajama pants. The absurdity of the situation and her reaction caused her to choke out a hysteric laugh, "We slept together," Mai's eyebrow shot up but she didn't say anything yet, "In her room, we slept together. Oh, spirits Mai, it was perfect. And then I messed up and we started arguing."

She recalled the entire visit to Mai, leaving out the steamy details. But as she neared the end of the tale, her voice hushed as she became confused. She looked up at her friend, "But, Zuko wouldn't stop me for a fight. He probably doesn't know about any of that, actually. Azula wouldn't talk to Dr. Liu about that kind of stuff…"

Ty Lee's eyes widened and she stood unsteadily, looking at Mai, "Something must have happened after I left! I have to find out, I have to go back to—"

A gentle shove from Mai pushed her back down into the squishy chair, "You can't. You read the letter, you can't go back. They won't let you in."  _What did they fight about to cause all of this?_

"But something bad might have happened to her!" Ty Lee rubbed her temples.  _I drank too much too fast._

Mai spoke carefully, "I think you should stay away for now." She shifted uncomfortably in her chair. The movement caused the robe over one of her shoulders to slip and she pulled it reflexively back into place. Ty Lee glimpsed the pale, creamy skin and shivered at unwanted thoughts. Mai continued, "You've been falling deeper and deeper for her recently. I think you need to step back and think realistically about all of this."

Ty Lee glared, "All of what?"

Mai rolled her eyes, really hoping Ty Lee wouldn't fly into a rage tonight. It was  _Monday_  for Agni's sake; the week had only just begun.

"The two of you. I guess you love her, for whatever reason you do, and that seems like it hasn't changed after all these years. But Azula…"  _Certainly? Definitely? That's a little harsh._ "…probably doesn't love you back. And probably nev—"

"Stop," Ty Lee blinked back more tears, eyes drifting over the delicate work on Mai's robe, "Don't say it out loud. I already know. B-but what am I s'pos ta do about it? She  _infected_ my brain and my body and my everything. She's like…" Ty Lee struggled to think of how to finish the thought, but her face lit up when she found the right thing to say, "She's like poison and the antidote at the same time."

Mai bit back a laugh at the utterly ridiculous, but somewhat accurate comparison, "I think time away will help. And you can always get more information from Zuko if you want it."

Ty Lee rolled her eyes dramatically, "Ohh sure, like  _Zuko's_ been so helpful so far. He almost killed Az-Azula with cooling her too much. He's been so mean, y'know? Never even visiting her and hating that I was in her room once. Well, a bunch of times, but he duzzint know that. And he won't. 'Cuz you and that doctor won't tell him. An' I won't tell him. Plus, I don't think he  _wants_  to hear about how I fucked his sister in her bedroom, prison cell, whatever it is." She laughed and mumbled more about the fun they had a couple days ago.

Mai just watched as Ty Lee unleashed this torrent of slightly slurred words. Suddenly, she noticed Ty Lee's unusually pink cheeks and the way her head swung around, glazed eyes never resting on one thing for too long. It dawned on her, "Have you been drinking?"

Ty Lee licked her lips and rolled her head back towards Mai, "Oops, you caught me!" She pouted and rested her suddenly tearless face on her fist, "I just wanted to relax. To get her off my mind for one night. C'you blame me?"

Mai looked on as Ty Lee swayed in her seat, "No, can't say I do."  _Those two siblings probably made both of us want to do this more often than we did._

The apathetic woman was mildly amused at seeing Ty Lee like this, despite the events that led to it. The seriousness of their conversation had worn off quickly and Mai supposed if Ty Lee was truly concerned about what happened with Azula, she would go talk to Zuko about it just like he suggested in his letter. Besides, if Azula had made it over four years in that place, nothing  _too_  bad could have happened to her over the weekend. Instead of focusing on either sibling, Mai switched her attention to the woman in front of her.

"Do you want any water or something?" she hoped Ty Lee hadn't had too much to drink; she didn't feel like babysitting a tipsy person tonight.  _It's only_ Monday.

"Mm, have any snacks? Somethin' spicy or sweet? Or maybe water, I dunno! Let's just snack an' talk about fun things," Ty Lee slumped onto the floor and toyed with her braid.

Mai stood from her chair and pulled Ty Lee to her feet. She didn't want to leave her alone in the study, so she dragged the inebriated woman down the little hallway to her kitchen and sat her down at the table. Mai quickly scanned her cupboards for snacks. There wasn't too much to look for. She was often abroad because of her diplomatic duties and so her house was poorly stocked with food, but she ended up finding an ice cream treat in her freezer and handed it over to a joyful Ty Lee.

"Oooh watermelon is my favorite! Thanks Mai," she ripped off the packaging and began happily licking at the cold snack. After an all too short lull in the conversation, Ty Lee spoke up again, "So no boyfriend still, Mai? You sure you don't wanna be back with Zuko? We can both be a parta the same messed up family, wouldn't that be super fun?" She laughed a little sadly, but stared at Mai, waiting for an answer.

"Ah, no. No boyfriend. I told you, I'm too busy for that right now. I'm fine on my own," she absolutely hated talking about this, no matter if Ty Lee was drunk or not.

"Aww c'mon, don't you miss dating someone? How long's it been? When was the last time you had s—?"

"Okay." The blunt question surprised Mai and she blinked furiously, as if that would hide the blush that crept across her cheeks, "That's none of your business."  _It's only been a... while._

Ty Lee ignored her and held up her fingers, "Two days ago for meee. With the  _princess_. Of the  _Fire Nation_."

Mai rolled her eyes and leaned against the polished countertop of her kitchen, "Yes, you mentioned that earlier."

Her robe slipped down her shoulder again, but this time Mai didn't notice. She was too busy concentrating on not listening to the  _graphic_  details pouring from Ty Lee's mouth. Mai put her face in her hands and tried to ignore the ramblings of her friend, but she couldn't deny that a few snippets of what she'd heard sounded interesting at least.

She flinched suddenly at a hand gathering the hair cascading down her back and twisting it over her right shoulder.  _When did she walk over here?_

"I'm curious…" Ty Lee barely whispered.

_ She's too close _ . Mai was about to turn to question what Ty Lee was up to, when she felt a pair of lips ghost along her exposed shoulder. She inhaled sharply at the contact, but otherwise froze in place.  _Move._  Warm breath puffed along her skin.  _Move!_ Lips found the base of her neck.  _MOVE._ Teeth bit down and Mai gasped, finally pulling away.

She yanked her robe up and stepped back to face a flushed Ty Lee, "W-what are you thinking?!"

Ty Lee looked unabashedly at Mai and took a step forward, inching the other woman into a corner, "I just wondered. I just wondered what it'd be like, that's all."  _Why she chose you…_ She kept walking towards the rare sight of a flustered Mai. Her cheeks were stained with pink and the skin beneath her robe was covered with goosebumps.

"You're still weirded out about Azula and I, aren't yo—?" Lips against lips. A tongue forcing its way in for a brief second, before Mai came to her senses and pushed Ty Lee away by the shoulders.  _She tastes like watermelon_.

She held Ty Lee back at an arm's distance, trying to ignore her wild heartbeat, "Don't. You've been drinking and you're confused and depressed about Azula and that letter."

Ty Lee inhaled,  _she's right, it's all wrong. She smells different. Her lips are too thin. I couldn't feel fire running through her blood_. She waved her hands, dismissing her actions, "Sorry, sorry. Just um, wanted to try it." She pasted a huge grin on her face, but Mai could see it was not genuine.

"Are you okay?"

"Course I'm okay, everything's perfect and great. I got to be with Azula for a while, then she said she hated me, and now I'm banned from seeing her. S'all so good," her shoulders sank in Mai's hands.

_ She's in bad shape. Damnit Azula.  _ Mai wasn't exactly sure how to respond. Ty Lee was teetering on the brink of a breakdown and Mai  _really_ didn't want that to happen. She steered Ty Lee upstairs and began filling the bathtub with steaming water, "Why don't you relax in here for a bit? I'll go make tea and bring it up to you once it's ready."

Ty Lee nodded slowly and looked around the lavish bathroom. It was all beautiful dark marble, with silver fixtures. Mai had a few candles on the counter where the sink was and Ty Lee watched as she lit them carefully. There were bottles and bottles of perfumes, shampoos, soaps, bath bubbles, oils, and lotions.  _Geez, so fancy_.

Mai was watching her look over all of her things, "You can use whatever you want. I'll be back in a few minutes." Before heading back downstairs, she got a fluffy black towel out from a cabinet and tossed it on the counter.

Ty Lee listened to Mai's steps fade as she exited the room. She ran her fingers along the cool marble surfaces and began reading the labels of all of Mai's toiletries.  _Fire lily, cinnamon, spiced apple, rose, ginger and lemon, morning dew…_ There were at least fifteen bottles and jars. Ty Lee picked up the simple rose scented one, scattering a few of the others across the counter because of the dizziness in her head.

She leaned against the counter and stared at the large oval mirror above the sink. Her reflection swam in front of her, rosy cheeks and unfocused eyes gave her current state away immediately. She shook her head and regretted the action, instantly clutching it in her hand as she felt her brain whack around inside her skull.  _Ohh, tomorrow is going to be bad_.

Ty Lee poured a little of the rose scented bath gel under the gush of water escaping the faucet. Bubbles began to froth up and soon the water was covered in a white, foamy sheet. She undressed and stepped into the delightfully hot water, releasing a sigh of sudden relief. Tipping her head back, she closed her eyes and forced her mind clear as she soaked pleasantly in the tub.

After a few minutes, a quiet creak signaled Mai's return into the room. She brought a small cup of tea for Ty Lee and set it on the wide ledge of the bathtub's side. Ty Lee cracked her eyes open and smiled at Mai, "Thank you… I'm sorry I—"

"It's alright. Just relax," Mai turned to leave, but Ty Lee reached out and grabbed the sleeve of her robe.

"Stay. Please. I donwanna be alone," she looked up with pleading eyes.

Mai sighed and slumped her back against the side of the tub. The water was quite high and so she leaned over to shut the faucet off. Mai stretched her legs out in front of her and crossed her arms, tilting her head back to rest against the tub. Not knowing what to really talk about, Mai stayed quiet as she inhaled the calming rose scented water.

Ty Lee swirled the foamy bubbles around with her finger. She was starting to get sleepy.  _Drinking always makes me so tired._

"Mai?" she looked at Mai's profile as the girl softly mm'ed in response. "Can I stay here tonight?"

Mai turned to face Ty Lee with a raised eyebrow, "Do you think I'd let you walk home alone, full of alcohol, at this time of night?"

Ty Lee smiled and sank an inch lower into the lovely water, "Mm noooo. Thanks Mai, you're a good friend."

The knife-wielding woman smiled to herself and resumed her position of silence against the side of the tub. After another ten minutes of Ty Lee quietly splashing around and sipping tea, Mai spoke, "You're going to roast if you stay in there much longer."

Ty Lee examined her fingers.  _Ooh, so pruney_. Her skin was pink all over from the heat of the water and she agreed with Mai's not-so-subtle suggestion to get out. She reached for the towel on the counter and wrapped it around herself as she stood from the bath. The heat combined with the rice wine caused an intense dizzy spell and Ty Lee had to take a minute to stand still and clear her head. Mai helped her step out of the tub and she led Ty Lee to her bedroom.

Looking around, one could instantly tell this was Mai's room, though it was hard to say why, exactly. Perhaps the cleanliness, scarcity of sentimental tokens, and clearly displayed collection of small knives all contributed to it.

"You can stay in here, I'll sleep next door in my office," Mai placed Ty Lee's clothes that she'd taken from the bathroom onto the table by her bed. She also grabbed pajamas of her own to change into and stole a pillow too.

Ty Lee yawned, barely able to keep her eyes open, "You don't hafta give up your room, I can stay in the other one…" Even as she said the words, she collapsed onto Mai's bed, still in just her towel.

"I'll be fine. Here, you can borrow these tonight," she tossed a pair of shorts and a t-shirt over Ty Lee's face. "Get dressed before you fall asleep." She didn't want to wake up to a hungover, half-naked, or fully naked, Ty Lee roaming around her house. Mai turned around to wait while Ty Lee changed.

"Oh, right," Ty Lee sat up and pulled the shirt quickly over her head, loosening the towel after she did so. She put the shorts on and clambered to her feet. Mai turned around and stretched her hand out to take the slightly damp material, laying it over a hamper by her door to dry.

"I'll be next door if you need anything," Mai was about to shut the door when another sentence fumbled out of her mouth. "I think you should go see Zuko tomorrow. To ask about what happened. You like talking things out, it might make you feel a little better."

Ty Lee murmured in sleepy agreement and within the next thirty seconds, she had passed out completely on top of Mai's silky sheets.

Mai shook her head, closed the door, and made her way downstairs to her study. She wasn't tired yet and she wanted to read that letter again. She admitted she was starting to get more and more curious about news regarding Azula. Usually she refrained from asking Ty Lee, knowing that the acrobat held back information on purpose to be considerate. But now… She sort of wanted to know about what was going on. What had  _been_  going on for the past few years. She supposed being more informed would help lift the burden off of Ty Lee as well. If Ty Lee could openly talk about Azula to someone else, she might be able to better deal with everything.

Mai sighed and sat in one of the chairs, perusing the ripped letter again.

She was starting to understand a little of Ty Lee's dedication to the princess. Her predicament certainly was interesting.

_ Damn you Azula, why can't you be boring like everyone else? _


	22. Chapter 22

Ty Lee awoke the next morning with a splitting headache. The hint of light filtering through the room was enough to make her eyes water and sent fresh throbs of pain through her skull.  _Oh spirits, oh never again. Never, ever again._

She sat up slowly, vaguely wondering what time it was and if she'd be late for work. Then she sighed in relief and flopped back down into Mai's pillow, remembering that her little old boss had given her the day off.

Ty Lee lounged in bed for another hour, wishing her head would stop pounding, before she decided to get up and see what Mai was doing.

Glancing properly around the room, she started recalling what happened last night.  _Fell asleep, took a bath, cried about Azula, kissed Mai, got Zuko's letter—_

_ Wait, what?! Oh no. No, no, no. Did I really do that?  _ The memory of seeing Mai shiver as she bit into her neck caused Ty Lee to bury her face into the pillow and let out a short scream of disbelief.  _Ugh, really, Ty Lee? Did you really need to go that far? "I'm just curious," you idiot!_

She stood up and felt a tiny heat rise to her cheeks.  _Well it certainly wasn't anything like kissing Azula._ The thought of the princess brought her back to the letter that started last night's spiral of unplanned behavior. Zuko had written to her about… What was it? She rubbed her eyes.  _I have to read it again_.

Ty Lee spotted her clothes on the table near the bed and got dressed. She folded her borrowed pajamas and placed them atop the towel covered hamper by the door. Unsure if Mai was awake yet, she quietly opened the door and set off down the stairs to the kitchen for some water. Definitely no food though. Her stomach wasn't quite ready for food yet.

Entering the study, she spotted Mai sitting cross-legged and reading in front of a small fire. The young woman heard Ty Lee enter and looked up at her as she approached.

"You look awful. Sleep okay?" Mai couldn't help the amused smirk that crossed her face.

Ty Lee saw her reflection in the shiny surface of a lamp. Her hair was  _crazy_ disheveled and her eyes were heavy with lingering sleepiness. She crossed her arms, "Aren't you nice? I feel awful, but I slept like a rock. Thanks for letting me stay."

Mai shrugged, "Sure." She returned to reading her book.

Awkwardly, Ty Lee stood, unable to look at Mai's face directly, "Ah, um, about yesterday… that kiss, I… Sorry. I didn't mean to do that." She fiddled with her hands, feeling too uncomfortable.  _No more drinking._

A book snapped shut and Mai turned her eyes towards the fidgeting Ty Lee, "I know."

Ty Lee met Mai's eyes for one second before she looked away.  _Well, she doesn't look mad, so that's good._  For once, Ty Lee was appreciative of the older woman's silence. She usually perceived it as sort of rudely uncaring, but in the context of this particular event, Ty Lee was grateful. She grinned and bent down to hug her. As she pulled away, she noticed the letter on a little table.

"Oh! Hey!" Ty Lee snatched it up and piecing it together, read it quickly to jumpstart her memory.

Mai snorted from her seat on the floor. She stood up and placed her book back on its shelf, "You forgot what it said, didn't you?"

"No! Of course not, I just needed a refresher," she laughed before the melancholy subject pierced her temporarily good attitude.  _Ah, that's right, Zuko doesn't want me to see her anymore._

She felt a hand at her shoulder, "I wouldn't worry too much about it. Go talk to Zuko today, he can tell you more about his reasoning for doing this."

Ty Lee tucked the letter into her pocket and nodded.  _Mai's right. No use panicking when you don't even know the reasons._ She bit her lip.  _But_   _I guess last night was pretty panicky_.

The two friends made their way to the kitchen table where Mai had a small tray of fruit as a simple breakfast. Ty Lee made a face at the food and Mai snickered, "You can stick to water for now."

They settled in. Ty Lee soon filled the quiet morning gushing with praise about her amazing boss, "Really, she's so kind. She saw I was having a tough time and gave me the day off. I feel bad though, this isn't exactly the first time something like this has happened. Oh, what if she fires me? No, she wouldn't, she's too nice. I just have to be more considerate."

Mai blinked, totally uninterested in this conversation. But she let Ty Lee ramble on for another few minutes. When she paused to breathe, Mai interjected.

"Will you tell me what's been going on with Azula?"

Ty Lee was shocked, "What? Really? But you've never cared before! What do you want to know? I'll tell you everything." She was excited. Excited to unload the weight of this information on someone who might,  _maybe_ , understand.

Ty Lee launched into a long retelling of all of the events that had happened concerning Azula since she'd begun visiting in early summer. Azula's initial coldness, Dr. Liu's assessments of her behavior, the bad hallucinations and nightmares, the burns, the freezings, her tense meeting with Zuko, Azula's increased mood recently. She didn't disclose anything about Kai letting Azula out of her room, the gifts she'd brought for her, or the lightning episode. Ty Lee trusted Mai completely, but she didn't want any of that to somehow make its way back to the Fire Lord.

She briefly and somewhat ashamedly told Mai about the argument she and Azula had. She was sure to mention that she knew it was a bad idea to bring up Mai and Azula's past actions, but she had to hear the reasoning from the princess herself. Mai sat and listened intently.

"I think that's everything. It's been all over the place, that's for sure," Ty Lee took a deep breath and sipped at her water. Her stomach was begging for more sustenance, but water would have to do for now. She didn't want to risk solid food yet.

Mai folded her arms across her chest, "Sounds more like prison than mental rehab to me."

Ty Lee felt a surge of hope inside her, "Y-yeah, that's what I thought too! She's still a princess, but they keep her confined in there with nothing to do. Dr. Liu and I have wondered why Z— uh." She stopped, unsure if she should proceed in telling Mai what they thought of Zuko's role in all of this.

Mai huffed, "You've wondered why Zuko has been letting this happen?"

_ She's smart. Why do I always forget that she's so smart?  _ "Yes. Like I said, last time I saw him, he said it was to keep her confined. He's afraid she'll escape somehow, even with all the guards and security and everything. I don't know if I believe him, but he must still care about her right?"

"He does. He's not showing it in the best way, but he cares," Mai looked out of the little window facing out the back of her house. She thought of Zuko's determination to do whatever he could for Azula right after she was admitted to the institution, even though Mai thought he was being absurd. She supposed he'd lost that fervor the longer his sister stayed in there, and that eventually morphed into this "containment" strategy. "But I don't blame him for being overly careful. If that doctor thinks she hasn't lost any of her intelligence, then you better believe she's thought about getting out of there."

"You really think so?"

"This is  _Azula_ , so yes, I really think so. She's not built to stay in one cell for years. And if she knows Zuko has been doing those freezings, then her resolve to break out from under his control will only get stronger."

Ty Lee frowned. She hadn't really thought of Azula escaping before, but now that Mai mentioned it, she supposed it made sense. No one would like being in that place for long, let alone nearly five years. Azula was cunning and persuasive, useful traits for organizing some kind of plan. Ty Lee felt a weight settle in her gut, but she couldn't quite grasp its cause.

"Anyways, it sounds like whatever Zuko's been doing so far to keep her in there has worked," Mai stood and cleared the table. She dumped the tray in the sink to be washed later.

"R-right…" Ty Lee wasn't so sure of that. But she let it drop and steeled herself to finish this next subject once and for all. "I guess I was jealous of you guys, you know. That's why I kept thinking about you two together whenever she and I were… together. I heard what she had to say about it though. You guys never really… you know. I should have believed you when you told me a long time ago, but it just sort of stuck in my mind. I wanted to be sure. And then I was dumb and asked Azula about it and then we had that fight."

Mai sighed, "I told you, it was never love or anything like that. And she told you herself, she wanted you. I should have known better than to agree to do something like that with her."

"Yeah… I'm sorry I didn't drop it. When it comes to Azula, I don't think so clearly," Ty Lee played with her braid to hide the bit of shame she was feeling.

"It's fine. Now you know for sure that it wasn't anything. I hope you really believe it, this time. For your own mind's sake."

Ty Lee knew Mai was right. She had been worrying about nothing for several months now and like Mai, hoped she could put it behind her for good.

"I think I'll be able to," she smiled softly in her seat. Suddenly, she was struck with the desire to see Zuko right away to know what sparked his letter. "Do you have to work today?"

"I have a few documents to read, but other than that, not really. I'm leaving soon for Omashu, so I just have to prepare for the next few days."

"Oh. Do you want to come with me to the palace? I think I want to go now. If Zuko's in meetings, we can explore a little bit!" Ty Lee picked their glasses up off the table and put them next to the tray in the sink.

Mai leaned against the counter and crossed her arms.  _Do I even want to see him?_ She bent her head, closing her eyes in thought.

"Alright. I'll go with you," Ty Lee's face cracked into a wide grin at the unexpected acquiescence and she clapped her hands together as Mai continued, "This is  _not_  a chance for you to force Zuko and I back together." She glared at Ty Lee, "I need you to know that."

"Fine, fine, I won't do or say anything weird," she looked up towards the ceiling, still smiling.  _But if something happens naturally, I won't stop it!_

They finished cleaning up in the kitchen and then Mai went upstairs to change. Ty Lee followed her and splashed some water on her face in the bathroom to get the hangover look out of her eyes. Mai let her borrow a pair of dark colored pants so Ty Lee wouldn't have to go to the palace in pajamas. She redid her braid and straightened her clothes as best she could, before heading back downstairs to wait for her friend.

She wandered around the study, browsing Mai's many books. Most were  _boring_. Some touched on Earth Kingdom relations from the past until present, others were encyclopedic and cited numerous important events in the Fire Nation's history.  _Geez, this is probably what Azula was hoping for at the hospital, not those light hearted fun books._

Upstairs, Mai carefully selected an impressive outfit from her wardrobe. A blood red floor length dress, embroidered with gold thread in an abstract pattern over the left breast, vaguely resembling tongues of flame. She tied a thick black belt around her waist and pulled on a wide-sleeved, deep maroonish-black formal robe to complete the look. Hidden up the sleeves were several knives. She never left the house unarmed.

Sighing and distantly questioning why she was putting in so much effort, she quickly powdered her face and tied her hair back into a low bun, spritzing on a dab of perfume.  _Even if I don't really want to go, I should look presentable_.

A bit of the perfume stung a small burn on her fingertip that she'd gotten last night when she accidentally grabbed the metal of her tea kettle. She winced and was reminded of Ty Lee's information about Azula's self-inflicted burns. Mai was bothered by them. There was something seriously odd about it and she couldn't pin down why.  _Azula never does anything without a purpose. She wouldn't be so careless to inflict burns just for the sake of_ doing  _it_.

Deciding to keep this suspicion quiet for now, Mai looked herself over in her mirror and deeming her reflection passable, she left the room.

Ty Lee continued to pry around the study until Mai returned. She could have sworn Mai came downstairs with shinier hair and just a  _touch_  of makeup on her face.  _Don't get me started on that outfit._

"Did you get all dressed up for—?" She was quickly silenced at a look from Mai.

Ty Lee giggled and followed her to the front door. They put their shoes on and walked out into the streets of the capital, heading for the palace.


	23. Chapter 23

Still being winter in the Fire Nation, it was a cool day. The sky was a pale blue, streaked with wispy white clouds and a sharp breeze cut through the air. Ty Lee drew her arms around herself, wishing she'd brought a jacket. She glanced over at Mai who looked perfectly fine with the current temperature.

Ty Lee made easy small talk with Mai as they walked the short distance to the palace gates. She went on and on about how fancy the rooftops and everything else became the closer they got to the Fire Lord's home. Mai was bored at the observational topics and barely listened. She felt uncharacteristically nervous about entering the palace for the first time in so long. And not because of Zuko.

Despite what Ty Lee and others often thought, Mai was also affected by the events of the Boiling Rock so many years ago. She was not conflicted like Ty Lee was about having sided against Azula. No, she knew with absolute certainty that she'd done the right thing.

But there were times, albeit infrequently, there were times that she remembered the rarer, fonder memories of her childhood with Azula and felt a dash of sadness at where the fallen princess had ended up. Perhaps those thoughts were just a case of yearning for simpler times. Now though, having heard the full account of what life in the mental institution was like, she wasn't sure she wanted to turn a blind eye to the situation anymore. Especially since Azula had been chucked in there when she was only fourteen, nearly fifteen.

Mai shuddered at the thought of having her life stripped away at such a young age.

Entering the palace would call up all sorts of memories that their little quartet had experienced. And it would also serve as a reminder of the things Azula was currently missing out on.

_ She had it coming. All of her hostility and cruelty pushed us to act how we did. Even though I joined her because she was more interesting and inspirational than Omashu, there were always undertones of instability. She had it coming, but I don't know anymore… if she deserves this treatment. Zuko, what are you thinking? _

They approached the palace and walked through the vast grounds until they reached the front entrance. A guard informed them that the Fire Lord was currently meeting with some Southern Water Tribe representatives regarding trade and treaty policies. Ty Lee was ecstatic that this gave her and Mai a chance to roam about their old hideouts in the palace.

Mai reluctantly agreed and followed a bouncing Ty Lee down the extravagantly empty hallways. They wound their way through a couple twisted hidden passages that Azula had found during her mischievous eavesdropping days and ended up in a dusty little room atop a narrow spiraling staircase that overlooked the sea in the distance. The rafters were exposed on the low ceiling and the walls were made of pale smooth stone. A bunch of pillows and cushions were piled up in the corner, untouched from when they'd brought them here as kids. This had been one of their favorite places to hide from Zuko when they played in the palace. Mai was certain he'd never known about it then and probably still didn't to this day.

Ty Lee knelt in front of the tiny window and pried it open. A gust of wind whistled through the glass and she shivered. Suddenly, the idea of exploring the palace wasn't as exciting as she thought.

"It's sort of not the same without Azula here," she traced her finger along the stone windowsill. "She's the one that found all of these places that we probably shouldn't even know about."

Mai stood beside her, not wanting to coat her clothes in years of built up dust. She looked out the window at the glittering water in the distance and almost smiled, "Yeah. As intense as she was about making rules for us to follow, she never followed them herself."

Leaning her chin against the cool stone sill Ty Lee asked, "Do you think she'll ever come back?"

Mai knew she wasn't asking about Azula simply returning to the palace, "I don't know. She has a lot to work out." She nudged Ty Lee with her foot, "Come on, this is depressing. Let's find Zuko and see about that letter."

Ty Lee nodded and tugged the window shut. They made their way back down the passageways and through a tapestry, giving one of the patrolling guards quite a shock at their sudden appearance. Ty Lee laughed and asked of Zuko's whereabouts. The soldier directed them towards an intimate meeting room near the back of the palace.

They could hear voices coming from inside, so Mai and Ty Lee entered an adjacent room to wait out the meeting. Fifteen minutes passed until the scraping of chairs against the floor signaled the closing of the discussion next door. Ty Lee poked her head out of their room and saw a few people filtering out, being escorted away by more Fire Nation guards. She gestured to Mai that they were good to go, and the two entered Zuko's meeting room.

The young Fire Lord was chatting amicably with two Water Tribe members that had lingered behind the rest of their group. Mai recognized them instantly as the siblings that had been a part of the Avatar's cohort.

Zuko looked up at the arrival of two new guests and Mai was amused to see his jaw drop at her surprise appearance, though her face did not show it. Ty Lee didn't miss this either.

"Mai? What are you doing here?" Zuko stammered, blinking rapidly. Ty Lee "ahem'ed" her presence. "And Ty Lee, it's… it's good to see you both."

The Water Tribe pair exchanged a glance and Mai vaguely wondered if they were still sour over the numerous times she, Ty Lee, and Azula had challenged them.

"We'll see you later, Zuko," the woman hugged him briefly and waved goodbye, following her brother.

"Uh, right," he nodded to the departing duo.

They passed through the room and Ty Lee flashed a grin at the man she'd seen numerous times at Suki's side on Kyoshi Island.  _He's still a cutie_. Sokka blushed and gave a quick wave before his sister pushed him out of the room and closed the doors behind her.

"Sorry about that, I didn't know you guys would be coming," Zuko's eyes swept around the room, but kept darting back to Mai. "Tea?"

Ty Lee and Mai both shook their heads. The former spoke quietly, "No thanks, Zuko, I don't think we're going to stay for long." She chewed her lip and looked at Mai, who spurred her on with a curt nod. Ty Lee took the crumpled letter halves out of her pocket and placed them on the table.

Zuko's face fell slightly. Of course that was why she was here, but what about Mai?

He sat back in his chair and indicated that the two women do the same. Both sat across the old polished table from him and Mai studied his face.  _He looks older, like the troubles and stress of the job have accelerated his aging._ She wrinkled her nose.  _The beard is… different_.

Ty Lee watched Zuko unsuccessfully try to avoid stealing glances at Mai. The silence was awkward, so she jumped right in to the task at hand, "So. Why can't I go see Azula anymore?"

Zuko shook his head and flexed his hands out in front of him. This was not going to be the most pleasant conversation. He cleared his throat and following Ty Lee's example, got straight to the point, "She had a breakdown after your visit the other day. I think you may have had an unintentional hand in causing it and so I don't want you to see her if things like this are the result."

Ty Lee leaned forward in her chair, "A breakdown? What happened? Is she okay?"

"She's fine. She was in hysterics and gave herself a bad burn. One of the guards had a tough time restraining her until the doctor administered a sedative," Zuko looked sternly at his sister's most frequent visitor, "Now you tell me, what happened in there?"

_ In hysterics?  _ Ty Lee shrank back. She closed her eyes and rested her forehead in her hand, shielding her face from Zuko and Mai. Her anger at Zuko disappeared in an instant.  _Was it because of me? We didn't start arguing until I brought up Mai._

She felt Mai's elbow jab her in the side and saw Zuko looking expectantly at her. Ty Lee inhaled and simply told Zuko, "We had a fight. I guess both of us ended up in, um, bad shape." She shot a glance at Mai, thankful that she had put up with her drunken sadness last night.

"You look just fine to me."

Ty Lee's gaze shot towards him and she saw a subtle shadow of contempt in Zuko's expression, "What?"

He rubbed his scar, "All I'm saying is that you look like you've recovered. But Dr. Liu seems to think that this little fight has set Azula back a few months."

"But I was part of her progress too!" Ty Lee, heart sinking at Zuko's words, was quickly losing her composure. "She seemed almost happy for a while, like before the Boiling Rock. You can't… you can't just ban me because of one argument!"

"Do you really think if you go back over there, she's going to welcome you with open arms and apologize? I don't want her to freak out again, so this is the best move for now. It isn't forever, so I need you to comply," Zuko's gold eyes were now focused entirely on Ty Lee.

She swallowed, aware that he might have a point, but still bitter about his attitude in conveying it. She took the opportunity to poke one of  _his_  nerves, "Why are you so suddenly going into protective big brother mode? You never did anything before this."

"I'm helping her now!" Zuko roared. Thin tendrils of smoke curled off of his tightly clenched fist. He took a breath to calm himself, "I know I tossed her on the backburner before, but I'm not going to anymore. I'll call off the cooling, I'll speak to Dr. Liu more thoroughly, I'll go see her. We'll… we'll make her more comfortable. I'm going to work at this like I used to."

Mai scoffed under her breath. Zuko's eyes darted to her, "Something wrong?"

Mai tilted her head to the side and considered him, speaking up for the first time, "I just don't think this turned-over-a-new-leaf shtick will last very long. You've always been indecisive when it comes to Azula."

His brow twitched, but Mai continued, "I know a part of you dislikes her, and me, because of what she and I did. And everyone knows you resented how easily everything came to her as a kid. But you still care about her because she's your sister. Back and forth between stifling her growth and wanting her to improve. I think your judgement on what's best for her is too clouded. The doctor should be in sole charge of what happens to her. Isn't that the point of having her stay there?"

Ty Lee looked at the two of them glaring at each other in tense silence. She saw Mai run her finger along what she knew was a knife concealed in her sleeve. It was a habit the woman had developed in the past when she was annoyed with something Azula ordered, but didn't want to make a fuss about.

Zuko opened his mouth to retaliate, but Ty Lee cut in, "Stop. We're all… conflicted about Azula, but we should be working together to figure out how to help her. Not tearing out each other's throats."

The Fire Lord squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed the side of his neck. He seemed to be biting back a few more combative responses at Mai, but when he did speak, he was composed, "I agree. We can continue this later. As you saw, we're hosting members of the Water Tribe. They'll be here for another few days on their own and then representatives from the Earth Kingdom and the Avatar will join us. It will be a meeting filled schedule for the next two weeks, but once they're over, you are both welcome to return and we can hash out a better method for helping my sister. In the meantime," Zuko deliberately looked at Ty Lee, "I stand by what I said. No visits for now."

Ty Lee held her tongue and nodded. She and Mai stood and exited the room. Zuko followed them into the hallway as they said their goodbyes in a strained atmosphere.

Mai glanced at a flickering torch next to the door and was reminded of her suspicions regarding Azula; her gut had been nagging at her ever since she mentioned the possibility of escape to Ty Lee.  _Those burns…_ As she swept past Zuko, dress swishing against his robes gently, she caught his eye and whispered in her gravelly voice, "Keep an eye on her."

Zuko knew Mai well enough to recognize the slight differences in her expression when she was serious or just bored. He recognized the former, but shot a confused look at her retreating back, wondering if she knew something he didn't.


	24. Chapter 24

Dr. Liu tapped his finger against his knee. He sat across from Azula, bound in the metal chair she hated with passion. She hadn't said so much as a word to anyone about what happened with Ty Lee's visit four days ago. He wasn't surprised, perhaps a little disappointed that she wouldn't divulge anything he might be able to help her with, but not surprised.

Azula stared calmly back at him, golden eyes bored and flat. Their usual luster was dimmed somehow, lacking the brightness of mischief and calculation. He thought she seemed defeated, similar to how she was when she first came here.  _Well, when she first came here and wasn't thrashing around in her straightjacket._  Kai had already told the Fire Lord his suspicions of Azula's regression, but he hoped they wouldn't prove true.

He'd debated sending any type of notice to the young Fire Lord. After all, the man still had no idea of the intimacy of Ty Lee's visits, the gifts she brought, the remodeling of Azula's room, and the lightning incident. It was probably because he'd neglected to tell Zuko any of those things that he had given in and let slip this instance of truth.

Her injury from the lightning shock had healed considerably with Minah's treatments, but a handful of faded pink zigzags still wound their way from her toes to her knee. Kai knew Azula wasn't pleased about the probable scar. Though she didn't really need it anymore, she had requested a jar of medicinal jelly and bandages so she could treat the marks herself. At the very least, she had a fully functioning leg.

His eyes drifted to her hands, bound and hanging loosely off the thin arms of the chair. On one wrist, a large blistering burn was just about gone. He'd had Minah take care of that as soon as Azula had lost consciousness from the sedative he'd given her. It was an easy enough fix, but Kai was still getting nowhere on  _why_  she was doing this. Today was another day, and he decided to give asking Azula another shot.

"How are you feeling?"

"Perfect."

"Have you eaten?"

"No."

"Are you hungry?"

"No."

Kai bit the inside of his cheek. He could tell she wasn't going to budge, but proceeded anyways.

"What happened with Ty Lee that made you burn yourself so badly?"

"Nothing."

Kai couldn't help the burst of laughter that escaped his mouth. He scratched the light stubble on his chin and smiled at her, "I'm no fool. You were doing quite well, spectacularly even, these past few weeks. And then after one lengthy, unsupervised visit with Ty Lee, you suddenly give yourself a first degree burn in a fit of hysterics, all because of nothing? Forgive me if I don't believe you."

"You're forgiven."

Her tone sent a chill down his spine, but her eyes remained detached and empty. He wanted to shout at her, shake her,  _talk to me! I'm here to help!_ But he knew she would only laugh and dismiss him even faster. Kai decided to risk taking a different approach.

"Let's make a deal."

Azula watched him, careful to maintain her blank expression, though her interest was piqued. Kai looked for any sign of curiosity, but at finding none, he continued, "You tell me about that burn," he pointed to her wrist, "and I'll grant you a request. Within limitations, of course."

She breathed slowly.  _Here's a chance_.

"Deal," she looked down her nose at him, face suddenly transformed into one exuding imperial confidence.

"The burn was caused by me placing my right hand," she wriggled it in the restraints, "around my left wrist." She shook that one next. "Since I'm a rather adept bender, even your little basement cell can't banish the fire from my blood unless you freeze the place. So I heated my hand as much as I could and inflicted the burn. It hurt and immediately turned red. First degree, as you said. I could tell it would blister but—"

"That's not what I asked," Kai resumed tapping his finger on his knee.

He watched Azula school her expression to feign innocence and she continued matter-of-factly, "You asked me to tell you about the burn. I'm quite sure that's what I was doing before you interrupted." Seeing the look on Kai's face, a smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth, " _Oh_ , I'm sorry, did you mean tell you  _why_  I burned myself? That's something you should have clarified before the deal was struck. Now, about that request…"

She clicked her tongue expectantly. The mocking sound grated against Kai's eardrums.  _This woman._ He exhaled through his nose, knowing she had cornered him just because of his word choice.  _Even when she's maintaining an appearance of indifference and defeat, she's meticulously aware of taking advantage of people when it benefits her_.

Knowing his loss was imminent, Kai clenched his jaw and forced the words out of his mouth, "What would you like?"

Azula's smirk disappeared as she savored her victory internally, "I'd like to take a bath in private. Twenty relaxing minutes, no guards staring at me."

Kai raised an eyebrow. That was certainly a more reasonable request than he expected. But again, as it always was with Azula, her words instilled a feeling of doubt in him.  _It's never so simple with her_.

"Ten minutes and the guards will stay outside with the door open."

"Bathing with the door open? That's hardly privacy. Fifteen minutes, door shut. Nothing will happen, it's just a bath."

Kai paled.  _Reassurance from her feels like an obvious trap. But I can't hope to win in negotiations._

"Done. When would you like this?"

"As soon as you leave."

Kai nodded in assent, feeling incredibly uneasy about  _something_. Azula had that effect, to make people second guess themselves, even if she was being truthful. He asked if there was anything else she wanted to discuss, knowing the answer before the question even left his mouth.

"No. I'd like my bath, if you don't mind," Azula smiled at Kai, sending another shiver down his back.

The doctor waved the guards over to undo Azula's bindings. She stood and stretched her limbs out once they finished, sweeping her long hair behind her shoulders. Her eyes did not miss the way the guards watched her through their masks.

Kai motioned for Azula to step back to her bed, while he had the guards unlock the barred door and screech the metal chair out. He reentered the room and walked into the tiny bathroom, turning the tap to fill it with chilly water.

"Once that's full, the guards will leave. Fifteen minutes."

He gave Azula one last suspicious look, before exiting the room and dragging the awful chair with him down the hall. She remained sitting on her bed until one of the guards shut the water off in the door-less bathroom. They left the room, shut and locked the door, and Azula immediately strode up to the bars to thoroughly examine them.

How many freezings had she experienced now? Close to twenty? It was hard to recall, but she hoped it was enough to do a little damage to the iron barrier that kept her in here. She needed them to be weak near the walls of the room, otherwise any breaking she might be able to do would be obvious to the guards and they would catch wind of her intentions.

Azula paced the stretch of bars at the left side of the room, furthest from the outside door. She gripped a hand around them and pulled hard. A bit of the iron flaked off in her hands, but they rattled as soundly as if they'd just been installed. She cursed, stepped back, and aimed a kick at the bottom third. Vibrations reverberated through her leg, but again, there was no discernable weakness.

_I'm wasting time, this isn't going to work_. Azula walked through the open barred door and entered the bathroom. She dunked her head in the cold water and quickly washed it with Ty Lee's shampoo. Now she at least looked like she'd taken a bath.

_Probably ten minutes left_. Her eyes frantically scanned the bars from every angle as she traced their surface with her fingertips.  _No use, it's no use, they're solid, they won't break. They'll never break._  Her hair was dripping down her back, sending a chill through her body. Long black locks stuck across her cheek and neck. She didn't bother pushing them away, her eyes searched wildly for any flaws in the metal.  _Anything, anything, anyth—_

Gold eyes locked onto a new target. Hinges _._

_Hinges are weak. Hinges are thinner than the diameter of a bar._ Azula hurried back into her bed area and up to the door, hands reaching out to test the integrity of the moveable metal. The hinges were understandably thicker than a normal door's. Four sets, about three inches tall, lined the right side of the frame at even intervals. She swung the door back and forth, hearing a slight creak that wasn't originally present.

She raked her eyes over every inch of each hinge and her heart skipped a beat.  _Cracks. The first, second, and fourth ones all have them_. They were only a hair's width, but they would surely have weakened the metal.

_Five minutes_. Azula knew she was cutting the timing way too close, but she had to try. She had to make sure she could still do it, or else there was no point in this whole burning and freezing charade.

She took a deep breath and stepped back closer to her bed. Closing her eyes, she calmed herself, cleared her mind, and began the motions of conjuring lightning.  _Nothing extensive, just a little zap like I did in the patient care room_. Azula's arms circled in front of her, she lost all sense of doubt and worry, instead losing herself in the serenity that came only with lightning.

She could feel the energies and the charge before she even opened her eyes. The electricity danced around her hands as she concentrated.  _Keep it small_. Azula extended her hand, pointed two fingers at the topmost hinge and released the built up energy.

The bolt was small, but still an audible cracking sound reverberated through the room. Azula held her breath at the gamble and sincerely hoped Ty Lee's information about not being able to hear things from the hallway was correct.

Since no guards immediately rushed inside to investigate, she assumed she was safe for another minute. She went to the bath and removed the stopper to drain the sudsy water. Returning to the bars, she watched the remnants of the bolt fizzle out against the metallic surface. A grin spread across her face. The hairline fracture had widened slightly.

There was a pounding at the door and Azula retreated to her bed as the guards took up their posts once more. One quickly locked the bars, and she noticed just the barest wobble at the top as it shut.

She rolled over in her bed, back towards the door, and sorted through the thoughts rapidly flashing through her mind.  _One strong hit and those hinges will buckle. The door should still be able to stand with the locking mechanism holding it up, but I'll need something to secure it in place anyways._

Ty Lee had given her a ribbon along with her royal crest. In a pinch, she could use that, but it would be painfully obvious to anyone entering the room: the damn thing was bright pink.

Azula cursed and hoped a new, more reliable and inconspicuous solution would come up. The fight with Ty Lee had renewed her determination to get out of here. She hated the feeling of being trapped. Of people coming to see her like she was an animal in a zoo.

_You're just running away instead of facing your problems_.

She ignored that part of her brain and the part that wandered occasionally to Ty Lee. Kai had told her that Zuko was preventing her from visiting again. Azula supposed this was a good thing. She did not want to see the woman again, afraid of the cursed feelings that might induce. Instead of dwelling on such distractions, she could focus wholeheartedly on leaving this metal tomb within the next week.

She briefly remembered the plea that had entered her mind the night she was sedated. Wanting anyone to come back to her. To try and put up with her for her own good. She gripped her arms tightly and felt a familiar anger begin to boil at the thought of who might come back.

_I don't need her. I don't need any of them. I just need to get out of here._


	25. Chapter 25

It was early morning. Her breath puffed out small misty clouds in front of her as she concentrated. The guards were in the hallway as they usually were while the room was being frozen. Azula couldn't help thinking how stupid they were for initiating and following that rule, especially after Kai had installed carpet and padding on the walls. Yes, it was freezing, but it was more tolerable than it had been when every surface was coated in ice. Did they not realize that time alone in her cell had allowed her to become intimately familiar with every inch of it?

It had been another five days since her discovery of the cracked hinges. The room was cooled. The bars were coated in frost. The new burn on her forearm tingled, but in her gut Azula knew it was the last one. This was the last cooling session. The stage was set: in the next twenty-four hours, she would either be walking under the morning sun or squished under more of Zuko's restrictions.

She inhaled, calm despite the importance of what had to be done. But then, she was always cool under pressure. She'd been under immense pressure her entire life, this would be no different. It was simply another test that she would certainly pass.

Azula walked up to the bars, any trace of a limp vanished. She kept her leg bandaged at all times, hoping that with continuous applications of the ointment, the scars would not be so vivid. So far, the pale pink zigzags remained, but extra medicinal attention wouldn't hurt. Other than its less than perfect appearance, her leg was back to normal. She could put her full weight on it and it held up well even under some of the more difficult forms she'd practiced.

Her appetite was fine too. The months of eating better had paid off considerably. Azula had put on a little more weight and built up some of the muscle definition she'd lost by being completely inactive her first few years here. She could tell that she had more energy now than previously, and that excited her.

There was just one thing she was still uncertain about. She was  _positive_  she could break the hinges herself, even if the drastic temperature change from frozen metal to white hot lightning somehow couldn't, but she wasn't quite sure the door would stay upright. She needed everything in the room to appear as normal as possible when the morning shift guards came in to replace the night one. Even those idiots would notice if the door to her room was off its hinges. No, she needed something to secure it, but just what that thing was eluded her.

For now, Azula had decided to do something uncharacteristic: she would assess the situation as it came about, not having a specific plan to follow. It unnerved her a bit.  _Quite_  a bit. Uncertainty was never a good thing,  _especially_  when it came into play during an escape attempt. She exhaled and refocused her attention on the door in front of her.

_One, two, and four._ She aimed her two outstretched fingers at the third hinge down, the only one that lacked any visible damage. A faint cracking sound exploded in her ears, but again, the guards did not come running. The small bolt of lightning hit the hinge directly and the charges spread quickly over the frosted metal. The intense and abrupt temperature change had opened up a tiny fissure on the surface.

Azula merely bit her cheek in response. Again, she performed the motions to gather lightning in her hands, and launched several small bolts at all four hinges this time. At this point, she didn't have time to waste. The power source cooling the room had been shut off, and throughout the day, the temperature would rise and the guards would take up their posts again around late afternoon.

_One, two, three, four. Each one has them._  The princess strode up to the door and poked at the heated metal. It still sparked, but the electricity dissipated quickly. She ran her fingers along each imperfection, applying pressure. When the hinge she was currently examining shifted suddenly, Azula withdrew her hand and finally allowed herself a grin. With a properly aimed kick, getting out of the cell would be easy. Managing to walk out of the building unnoticed, on the other hand, was another thing.

She stepped back to the middle of her room and breathed deeply, settling on the floor to take up her daily meditation. It had helped a bit with the hallucinations and nightmares. She hadn't had either in a few days, which left her with a pleasantly light feeling. With her mind fully occupied on breaking out of here, she was not concerned that her father or mother would make an unannounced appearance.

Azula spent the better portion of two hours sitting straight backed on the floor. Her mind was blissfully free of the people that usually clogged it up. Zuko, Ty Lee, her mother. And to a lesser extent, her father, Mai, and that water peasant. She relaxed, visualizing herself standing in the sun, breathing fresh air, and freely bending.

A tingle ran down her spine at the thought.

Azula continued to sit for another few minutes before standing and stretching out. She would need to be limber and prepared for any encounters with guards outside of the building. She went through a few challenging forms, pushing herself to the limits of her flexibility without actually spinning or doing flips. One form called for a brief handstand, so Azula walked closer to the side wall of her room and rolled up into one, leaning her heels against the wall for extra support.

Her eyes settled on a piece of paper that had been swept under her bed. She flipped down and grabbed it. It was Ty Lee's painting.

She looked at it for all of two seconds before sliding it back under her bed.  _I don't need to be distracted._ Days ago, Azula had decided to quash whatever annoying feelings she had for the woman. Interacting and thinking about Ty Lee only brought confusion and confliction.  _She'll leave in the end. It's not worth pursuing_.

Azula spent the remainder of the morning stretching, thinking, and tracing the cracks on the hinges. Eventually, the frost on the bars melted away and one of the day shift guards reentered the room.

She sat on her bed and studied him for a long time. The way his boots were tucked into his pants. The plates of armor never overlapping, always a section of underlying cloth separating them. The helmet that covered everything but his eyes. His belt positioned slightly off center. The bands that cinched his sleeves at the elbow. The black bands…

The man shifted uncomfortably under her strong gaze.

Requesting a light dinner, Azula nibbled on rice, some dark grained bread, and tea. She slid the tray back underneath the bars once she had finished and perched on her bed. The night guard would enter in about an hour and then it was a waiting game.


	26. Chapter 26

The dim ceiling light over the couch in the guest portion of the room was off, shrouding both areas in the usual late shift darkness. Azula was lying in her bed, not sleeping. As if she could sleep, her blood was practically boiling in anticipation.

She heard the steady breathing of the night guard and through the pitch black of the room, her eyes could just make out his form facing her. She slid her hand beneath her pillow and noiselessly tucked the little steel flame under the bandages of her leg. The metal was cold against her skin and served as a nice reminder of her past achievements. Things she knew would help her tonight.

_It must be about four thirty. Sunrise won't be for another two hours. I have to give myself enough time to get ready, but should I do it now? Should I wait half an hour?_

_Play it safe, I can wait_.

Azula took several deep breaths to calm down. She was eager, she couldn't remember the last time she felt so genuinely excited. Her heart pounded a steady rhythm in her chest.  _Patience. Patience. Patience._

The half hour passed at about the same pace it took a snail to travel any measurable distance. But it passed all the same. And once it had, the Fire Nation Princess took action, feeling a flood of exhilaration wash over her. She was fourteen again, on a mission of utmost importance.

She blinked, breathed, and slid off of her bed. Quietly, Azula took the little jar of ointment and small roll of bandages from the floor and shoved them in the folds of her clothes. The carpet silenced her footsteps as she approached the guard's position. Briefly, she flicked her hand out in front of her to find the spacing between the bars. She widened her stance and moved her arms.  _Once I start, it will be obvious. I have to be fast. And I cannot miss_.

Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness in the room, but so had the guard's. His armor clinked as he took a step forward to question her, "What's going on? Do you feel alri—?"

The room was illuminated in a sudden white-blue glow. Azula could make out the guard's exact position in the light of the electricity that wrapped around her arms. His eyes bulged behind his helmet and he turned to run out of the door.  _Ah, but it is_ so  _hard to outrun lightning_.

Azula grinned and shot the bolt through the bars at the retreating man. She hit his unarmored lower back, just above his belt. The crack of the lightning sent a rush of pleasure through her and she watched as the guard shouted, collapsed twitching to the floor, and lay motionless.  _Yours might scar a little worse than mine since you won't be receiving immediate medical attention_.

She waited for a minute and having confirmed that the man was not about to get back up, she stepped back into the room and unleashed a fresh onslaught of smaller bolts at the hinges of the door. Once she was sure she'd hit each weak point a couple times, Azula ran forward and kicked at the lowest hinge. She heard a snapping sound and retreated to repeat the process for the next two hinges.

_Snap. Snap._

The months of freezing and thawing the iron bars had paid off. The water had wormed its way into impurities in the metal and upon freezing, expanded, opening the fissures Azula had seen on the hinges. Repeating this process over and over had weakened the structure. Now, with the rapid temperature change inflicted by the lightning, the hinges were structurally unsound. That is, they had snapped in half.

The door was still suspended by the locking mechanism and the topmost hinge. Azula stepped back to the foot of her bed and sprinted at the door, putting all of her weight into her right shoulder. She collided with the bars and was sent stumbling backward. Ignoring the pain spreading through her right side, she approached the door and found that she could  _just_  force it open enough to slide uncomfortably through.

_Well, I'm out of there, but there's no way to get the guard through this door without completely breaking it._

Ideally, she would have dragged the unconscious man into her bed, a substitute for a sleeping princess. But that would no longer work. Her mind moved quickly. She squeezed back into her bedroom and ripped the blanket and sheets from her bed. She arranged one pillow and the bunched up sheets into what she hoped was a vaguely human form, before covering it with the blanket.  _So amateur, but what choice do I have? If they fall for it, they're truly the Fire Nation's best and brightest._  She rolled her eyes.

Azula slipped through the door again and approached the sprawled out form of the guard she'd taken out. She began stripping him of his armor and the plain red clothes he wore beneath it. Gathering each piece, she set them on the couch and prayed that this man practiced good personal hygiene.

The dim light above her head flicked to life suddenly and she jumped.  _5:30am_.

She glanced over at the guard and narrowed her eyes.  _What to do with you?_ Her fingers twitched restlessly at her side.  _He can't fit through the bars. I can't hide him in the tiny bathroom. I have to find a… Storage closet._ She remembered glimpsing the tiny room down the hall where they kept that metal restraint chair and a bunch of other supplies on the day that she and Ty Lee first visited the common room.

Her resolve faltered a little at the thought of somehow dragging this man down the hall unseen, though the odds of seeing other guards down here were slim. Still… Was this a gamble worth taking?

Of course it was. It was the only choice she had now.

She had to be fast. Time was ticking steadily away. Azula bit her lip and decided to poke her head out of the room into the hallway.

She barely pushed open the door, looking out into the hall through a hair's width of a space. There were no guards posted outside her room and the hall looked empty enough. She opened the door a little further and stuck her head out to get a good look.  _No guards. Do it now_.

Though she had been building up her muscles over the past few weeks, she was still a nineteen year old woman, which meant supporting the dead weight of a full grown man would be difficult. Even more difficult with her throbbing shoulder. She thought she could try to piggyback him down the hall, but if she couldn't boost him up on her back, she would have to drag him.

Azula grabbed one of the man's wrist guards from the couch and used it to prop the door open. She wouldn't take any chances that it might shut and lock her out somehow. Swiftly, she bolted down the hallway towards the front of the building and praised the spirits that the storage closet's door was slightly ajar as usual. She wasn't sure why it wouldn't be, there was nothing of importance in here.

The metal chair sat in its place, taunting her with past experiences of being questioned and restrained. She glared at it for a moment before remembering the urgency of the situation and sprinted back down the hall to her room.

She took a shuddering breath and managed to sit the guard on one of the chairs in the guest area. Bending her knees in front of the chair, she pulled his arms over her shoulders and leaned forward, grabbing under his thighs. His weight shifted and she stumbled forwards, bent ninety degrees at the waist. Azula clenched her teeth and took a shaky step. She hesitantly tried to straighten up, hoisting the man's weight further up her back until she could stand at a more acceptable angle.

Slowly,  _too slowly_ , she pushed out of the room and made her way down the hall. Her knees threatened to buckle with each step. Her ears strained, expecting to hear the alerting cry of a guard at any moment.

But it never came. Azula reached the storage room unhindered and dumped the man into the chair. Her back cracked when she finally straightened up and she eyed the man clad only in boxers. Shaggy dark hair fell across his face as his head hung limply on his chest. His sides were tinged bright red from the lightning and Azula could only imagine the damage done to his back, but she knew the strike wasn't fatal. Still, she tightened the restraints around his arms and legs just in case.

Azula crept down the hallway and reentered her room, taking the wrist guard from the door and shutting it properly. She pretended she was a guard, glancing around the room for anomalies. Her eyes first landed on several pieces of broken metal that lay in a heap beneath the barred door. She quickly swept them into her hand and deposited them under the cushions of the guest couch.

Then there was the door itself. It hung oddly, relying on the lock to hold the bulk of its weight while the broken hinges barely held on. Azula knew she had to straighten and secure it. She scoured the couch for the dark bands that the guards wore around their arms to keep the fabric from bunching up. Taking one, she tore the elastic in two with her teeth and as best she could, wrapped them tightly around the top and bottom hinges to cover and straighten them up. The middle two were broken, but it would be tricky to notice if you weren't  _looking_  for them to be broken. And Azula doubted the guards ever looked at the hinges of her door.

Her blood tingled. _Almost sunrise. 6am?_

Azula turned away from the door for the time being and began donning the guard's clothes. He was of average height and build, but the red pants and long sleeved shirt still fit loosely around Azula's thin frame. She rolled the pants at the waist and tucked the shirt into them to try and remedy that problem. She hoped the incompetence of the other guards would work in her favor today. Hopefully they wouldn't notice their friendly night guard had shed a few pounds and shrank an inch.

Slipping the breastplate and shoulder plates over her head, she winced at the soreness in her right side. The wrist guards fit loosely as well, but Azula bunched up the excess cloth from her shirt to keep them from slipping out of place.

Next were the leathery skirt-like pads and the belt to go around her waist. Each fastened with a few ties and fit nicely. She slipped the pointed boots on, the first time she'd worn any footwear in  _years_ , and frowned at how bulky they seemed, but there was no way to fix that. She would just have to walk carefully. Quickly she tore the other black band in half and wrapped the elastic material around her arms.

She scanned the couch, looking for anything she might have overlooked. Seeing nothing, she bit her tongue, tied her hair up with a bright pink ribbon, and fit the helmet over her head. It too was a bit big, but with her hair cushioned at the top of it, she could see out of the eyeholes.

Azula inhaled slowly and closed her eyes for a minute, allowing herself a brief reprieve from the rising tension.


	27. Chapter 27

Azula waited for a fifteen minute eternity to pass. She stood, channeling the composure she'd had when she disguised herself as a Kyoshi Warrior. She conquered a city because of that scheme, but now, for whatever reason, the stakes seemed so much higher.

Her heart was thudding quickly, echoing its bloody pattern in her ears.  _Just a few more minutes. Focus._

She felt the familiar flush of heat in her veins that accompanied the sunrise. Soon enough, the door to the room swung open and one of two guards filed in quietly.

All of a sudden, Azula felt nothing. No exhilaration, no dread, no doubt or panic. She had entered the state of mind that usually came with generating lightning.  _Precision. Clarity. Tranquility._

She nodded to the two newcomers, as she so often saw the night guard do, and walked out the open door into the hallway. It shut behind her and she continued towards the staircase by the storage closet, not looking back at the guard in the hallway. Her feet shifted around inside the large boots and she scrunched her toes up to try and keep her footsteps at less of a stomp.

Azula began the ascent up the stairs, breezing by the storage closet with the unconscious guard. Just like on the couple occasions she had traversed them with Kai and Ty Lee, there were no people in the stairwell. She took the opportunity to light a flame in her hand. With each floor she climbed, it grew larger and brighter. Orange to whitish-yellow, then to white, and finally to a perfectly scorching blue.

The sight of the flame calmed her even further and she licked her lips beneath the helmet, extinguishing the fire before she pushed through the door to the ground floor.

The front desk was occupied by the earthbender.  _She must start at sunrise as well_. Azula sneered at her, passing by to approach the front door. A voice suddenly shouted out and she turned to find the bender looking expectantly at her.

"Hey, come on, Iz, you have to check out with Dr. Liu," she stuck her thumb down the hall behind her. "Tch, how can you forget  _every day?_ "

Azula shrugged and turned to walk down the hallway. She swallowed at the sudden wrench in her plan.  _Shit. He'll recognize my eyes._

The frosted glass door loomed in front of her. She entertained the idea of dawdling around the patient care room and trying the front entrance again after a few minutes, but that green eyed idiot was watching her. So Azula bit her cheek and knocked gently on the door to her doctor's office.

A faint "come in," floated through the glass and she entered.

Immediately she bowed her head in what she hoped was seen as a sign of respect and  _not_  suspicion. Kai didn't look up from his papers.

"All went well I presume?"

 _He isn't looking, I can't just nod_. Azula tried to remember the tone of voice this guard had when he shouted at her before she struck him down. She couldn't quite place it and had to settle for a rumbling grunt of assent.

Kai raised his head. He looked quite tired and Azula hoped this would help her chances of leaving the room undiscovered. She maintained her bow.

He yawned and leaned back in his chair, "Very well, I'll be down to see her this afternoon. Get some rest." With a wave of his hand, he dismissed her and returned to scanning the papers on his desk.

She blinked in absolute disbelief and quickly left the room before the man came to his senses.  _You've got to be kidding me._

Azula hurried down the hall towards the entrance, passing the annoying desk woman and a few bustling staff members dressed in red, and then she pulled open a heavy door to reveal a place she hadn't set foot in for nearly five years.

She kept her elation in check, for now ignoring the sweet smell of fresh air and the breeze that whistled across her helmet. Azula did not dare look at the sky, fearing she might freeze in place upon seeing the sun's touch stretching across it. She strode forward, tripping slightly over the boots. One of the guards on patrol laughed at her, but she traipsed on, not wanting to initiate a conversation with any of the people roaming the grounds.

The solid metal wall of the inner gate towered in front of her. She had passed by the guards patrolling the perimeter of the building and the two at either side of the front entrance with no problem. There were two more stationed at this wall's gateway.  _Ty Lee's throwaway comments were legitimate._ They watched her approach and she nodded to them, hoping they would let her pass uninterrupted.

The pair resumed their conversation and frankly ignored her as she walked by.  _Are these people serious? This is too easy. I guess it isn't exactly a prison, so the guards are noticeably more lax, but come on. No identity verifications? No friendly conversa—_

"Hey, Izzy boy!"

 _Spoke too soon_.

The pair of guards at the outermost gate waved at her. She returned the gesture and took in her surroundings. The gate ahead wasn't a wall like the one before. It was entirely wrought iron, with a similarly styled entrance. And it was wide open. Two final guards stood between her and freedom.

Azula approached, sizing them up in case things got ugly. The one that had called out to her was jovial and quite chubby beneath his armor. She could beat him easily in hand to hand combat if need be. Using her firebending here was out of the question, she would be recognized instantly.

The other guard was slimmer, built like an average young man. He would be much quicker than his counterpart, but Azula wasn't concerned. None of these guards were anywhere close to being as well-trained as the people she had faced in her past.

She reached them and the fat one spoke again, "Hey buddy, how's Princess Crazy?"

Azula felt her eyebrows twitch.  _Is that what they call me here? It's almost insulting how simple it is. Everything about this place is so_ stupid.

She slapped him roughly on the shoulder, feeling confident. She didn't much care for the guard charade anymore, knowing she could beat these simpletons and get away in a flash.

Lowering her voice to a gruff whisper, she spoke, "Great. How's your diet going?"

His shoulders sank a little. Azula grinned and had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing. He directed his head at the ground and didn't respond. The other man spoke up, "Lay off, Iz, he's been trying."

She clicked her tongue, "Doesn't look like it."

The chubby man picked his head up and glared at her, "What's wrong with you this morning? Did she say something to piss you off?"

Azula thought of the real  _Izzy boy_ , strapped to a chair in the basement of the building. She certainly hadn't  _said_ anything to make him mad, but she could guess that her actions would probably make up for that.  _Once he wakes up, anyways_.

The thought shook her out of the bit of fun she was having.  _There will be time for this sort of thing later. I should get out of here, there's no telling when everyone inside will figure it out and I want to be as far away as I can when they do_.

She ignored his question and walked several yards past the two men, thinking of her options.  _Village or ferry?_ Part of her desperately wanted to return to the capital. She wanted to see it. Her home. Though it was the riskiest choice, that likely made it the last place people would thoroughly search. No one would think her foolish enough to return there.  _But the ferry might not be docked right now, and I can't afford to wait. Village it is._ She went to continue down the road, but was stopped when a hand grasped her arm.

Azula turned and was eye to eye with Skinny. He was looking at her strangely.

 _Ah, cover's blown_.

"You alright, Iz? You sound a little funny," he was looking at her frayed arm bands and oddly slender frame with suspicion. His eyes found hers and he was momentarily stunned at seeing their golden color, so different from the deep brown of his friend's.

Under her helmet, Azula smirked. She abandoned the poorly imitated voice and spoke sweetly, "What's the matter? Don't you recognize  _Princess Crazy?_ "

She smirked as she saw his eyes widen in realization and fear. Azula ripped her arm from his hold and spun to land a kick at the side of his head. He fell to the ground, clutching his helmeted skull. When he tried to stand, he stumbled, dizzy, and she kicked him again square in his chest. His head collided with the ground in a crunch and he collapsed on his back, the wind knocked out of him and head ringing with the sound of armor against armor.

Meanwhile, Chubby had noticed the commotion and was attempting to jog over to investigate. Azula looked over his shoulder at the building, but they seemed to be far enough away that the other guards hadn't detected the squabble through the gates. She stood with her hands on her hips while he ran towards her, panting.

He bent over, clutching his side and looked up at her, "What the hell, Izzy? Why'd ya do that?"

Azula tapped her foot against the grass and shook her head, "Oh  _honestly_ , you're all so slow. This was no fun at all."

Chubby tensed at the unfamiliar voice and bent down to his wheezing friend, who was weakly trying to mime something, but Azula elbowed him in the back of the neck, sending him to the ground as well. She gave the overweight guard a kick to the sternum for good measure.

"You make quite a pathetic pair."

Azula turned on her heel and set off without another word. Even that little taste of weak combat had sent chills of delight through her body.  _I lied. That_ was _fun._

She walked down the paved road for a few minutes until she came to an intersection. Straight ahead would lead her to the sea, the ferry, and the capital, while the right hand road wound towards the village she sought. Glancing behind her, and seeing that she was not being followed yet, she turned down the village road.

Finally,  _finally_ , she allowed herself to look up into the early morning sky. The wide expanse of pale blue was partially shrouded by wispy white clouds. But her eyes combed the entire thing regardless and she stared at the still rising fiery orb to the east, triumphantly glinting off the metallic surface of what had been her nightmare.

Her hands trembled with the absolute need to bend under the sun for the first time in years. She couldn't hold back, her lungs filled with the cool morning air, and she set off at a sprint, flipping forwards onto her hands and producing an arc of cerulean flame from her feet. It spread out in a magnificent wave in front of her, rippling just high enough above the road and long grass to not leave scorch marks.

Azula smiled wider than she had in probably her entire life. She tore down the road to the village, quickly tiring from her years of inactivity, but she continued in spite of the stitch in her side and the way her feet slid around in the too big boots.

In that moment, running free under the sun in stolen armor, Azula felt something other than rage, confusion, or despair. Something felt before all the heaviness of life had settled in. Before twisted sibling rivalry. Before an unloving mother. Before a cruel tempered father. Before friendly betrayals. Before  _whatever it was_ for Ty Lee. Her mind was clear, her heart light. She had known what it was to be defeated, discarded, and forgotten, yet here she was, running towards a tiny peasant village in the Fire Nation. Bending abilities restored. Happy.

She felt four years old and the oversized boots reinforced it.


	28. Chapter 28

Dr. Liu quietly perused his newest patient's file: a woman suffering from a severe personality disorder.  _Of course it's severe, if it's enough to land her in my care_. He stared at her photo. She was in her mid-thirties, with shoulder length straight brown hair and dark eyes. Her face was kind, but clearly strained from not seeking help sooner. In fact, her husband had been the one to bring her here, under false pretenses of visiting friends in the nearby colony. The ruse did not go over well and the woman had broken down sobbing the first night she spent. She'd only been here a week, but he knew she would improve well with therapy sessions and light medication over time.

_ So unlike a certain other patient. _

Kai felt his eyes drooping as he read the scribbles on the paper. It was still early; he'd only arrived about twenty minutes ago. The night shift had finished and he already felt tired.  _Today is going to be a rough day_.

As if in response to his thought, the doctor felt a strange chill shoot down his spine, despite the heat of the room. He shook it off.  _Best to keep working. First, off to see the third floor patients, then the new woman, then Azula in the afternoon…_

His thoughts trailed off to the princess in her thawing cell. The guards had informed him of the most recently written page in the growing novel of her burn history and she'd had her room frozen yesterday. Kai hadn't seen her since the night of their little deal and thought she was due for a visit, seeing as Ty Lee wouldn't be coming for a while.

The doctor sighed at the Fire Lord's newest order. As much as it pained him to fulfill it, this time Kai agreed that a little space between Azula and her friend was a good idea. At least for now.

He continued reading the file and began tidying up the mass of other files he'd collected over the years. His back was turned as he put away a few large encyclopedias, when two men crashed through his door, nearly shattering the frosted glass.

Kai spun around and glared, easily irritated in the mornings. "What is the meaning of this?" He placed the remaining books on his desk and faced the men. Recognizing them from the outer gate's post, he asked again while they caught their breath, "Well?"

"Sir… Doctor... Liu," the man speaking was clutching his chest in pain and could only manage to spit out a few words at a time. His friend had his helmet tucked under his arm, while cradling his bleeding temple in his hand.

Kai's stomach sank.

"Azula's… gone."

Kai's stomach sank like a lead weight.

He flew into action immediately, grabbing the chubby speaker by the arm and dragging him into the hallway. The bleeding man followed, wincing.

"Get to Minah's office, she can help your head. You, come with me," Kai steered him past the front desk where his secretary sat reading a few letters. They began the descent to the basement floor.

Dr. Liu sped down the steps, still clutching the poor guard's arm as he took rattling breaths. His mind raced impossibly fast. Two guards, one bruised, one bleeding. This couldn't be a prank, right?  _She couldn't get out, how could she?_ They reached the bottom floor quickly and dashed to Azula's room.  _What did she do?_

Kai pulled the door open, passing the hallway guard and leaving the winded one behind, quickly speaking to the man inside, "Has there been any trouble this morning?"

He exchanged a glance with his counterpart in the hallway at the doctor's unusually frazzled demeanor and shook his head, "No, sir. She's been sleeping since we arrived." He gestured towards the lump in the bed.

The doctor sped up to the bars, wrapping his fingers around them and craning his neck to catch a glimpse of sleek black hair or a bandaged foot poking out of the blanket. He saw no such thing and rushed to unlock and open the barred door.

Upon turning the little key and yanking back, the door creaked ominously and lurched downward, barely hanging from its hinges. When Kai noticed the dark cloth binding the door to the rest of the bars, his eyes also trailed to one of the lower hinges and saw it nearly pulverized. He shuddered and sprang to Azula's bed to throw the blankets back.

_ Pillows and sheets. For fuck's sake, it's pillows and sheets! _

He turned angrily back to the guards, all of whom were inside the room facing him, speechless, "Sir, we didn't—"

Kai held up a hand, "Save it. When did you both get here?"

"Six thirty, sunrise, as usual."

"Was everything else  _as usual_?"

The two men were clearly anxious and terrified that they hadn't noticed that the patient under their care was not, in fact, sleeping in her bed. One stood unnaturally still and let the other fidgeting guard do all the talking, "Y-yes, doctor. We took over for the man on nights and that's-that's really it."

At this moment, the chubby guard stammered, still holding onto his chest, "Not Izzy. Azula... armor.  _Azula_."

Kai shut his eyes and tried to breathe. The chill from a few minutes ago had settled permanently into his spine, prickling the hairs at the base of his neck. His hands balled into fists and he glared at all of the men, "Search this place. Search this floor, the next, whatever it takes. Find that guard. And you," he spoke specifically to the chubby man, "tell the perimeter guards to fan out and search the immediate area. I doubt she'll be anywhere nearby, but it's all we can do for now. Don't put a public alert out just yet; I'll have to consult the Fire Lord on this."

Chubby nodded and set off for the ground floor while the other two split to search this one. Meanwhile, Kai shakily slumped into the chair of Azula's,  _formerly Azula's_ , guest area.

_ We were careful. We had all of this security added for her and it did nothing. Nothing. The Fire Lord will have my head. _

He resumed looking around the room for any sign of how this could have happened.  _She couldn't have just broken the door. That would take impossible strength. She may have been eating well, but that doesn't mean she gained super powers. How?_ How?

He glimpsed a sheet of paper under the bed behind bars and a stab of sadness hit him.  _Ty Lee. She was already banned from seeing Azula and now this…_

A shout rang out from just down the hall and Kai bolted to its source.

He sprinted to the storage closet beside the staircase and found a guard standing outside with a grim look on his now un-helmeted face.

"We need the healer."

Kai approached him, afraid of what he would find waiting on the other side of the door. He held his breath and looked, a low hiss of despair escaping through his teeth.

The man inside the door, the night shift guard apparently, was stripped to his underwear and strapped to the restraint chair Kai so often put Azula in. The doctor quickly stepped inside the tiny space and checked the unconscious man's vital signs.  _Still alive, good. That's good. But how did she…?_

Kai noticed the red tinge creeping onto his stomach and circled around the back of the chair to investigate the probable source of the coloring.

A jagged mark spread along his lower back, bright red and weeping. Radiating out from the center were several familiar zigzag lines and Kai suddenly guessed at how she'd escaped the room.  _Lightning. That woman… She could do it this whole time._

He gritted his teeth and sent the guard up to fetch Minah, while he stayed and loosened the restraints around the injured man. He was alive, but his breaths were shallow and not at all convincing of good health. His forehead and chest were slick with cold sweat, skin drained of color. Kai sucked in another breath of his own, caught in a state between extreme nervousness and sickened awe at what Azula had managed to do.

Minah rushed into the tiny room, almost colliding with the chair. She gasped quietly at the sight and began her healing from a small pouch of water at her hip. Her dark blue eyes flicked over to the doctor, bent and holding his head in shocked disbelief.

Kai finally met her gaze as she coated the guard's torso in a thin suit of water. Both were speechless, but the look on her face told him that she knew exactly what had happened. She swallowed, bit her lip in a show of unease, and jerked her head to the above floors.

"You have to write—"

"I know," he paused, absolutely drowning in dismay, "I know. I'll get someone to help you move him upstairs."

With that, he left the healer to her work and took the steps two at a time to the ground floor. Two staff members had just gathered the trays from a few people's breakfasts in the common room. Kai stopped them and directed them to the basement to help Minah, stressing the urgency of the matter.

He passed by the front desk, understanding that the armor would have gotten Azula past the receptionist easily. And then his shaking hand paused at the doorknob to his office, remembering the slew of guards he dismissed from their shifts less than an hour ago. The resident chill in his spine spread through his limbs and up his neck like a jet of ice water.

_ One of them was Azula. I spoke to her. Directly to her. And I let her walk out of here. Damn it. Oh fucking hell _ .

He slammed the door to his office, violently rattling the panes of glass for the second time that morning, and sat at his desk with his face buried in his hands.

Perhaps to shift the blame to someone else for a minute, the doctor suddenly became enraged with the Fire Lord.  _If he had allowed me to treat her better from the start, to treat her how I would any regular patient with similar issues, she might not have felt the need to do this! She felt so suffocated in here, so dreadfully forgotten and useless, that she broke out. She still needs help!_

Dr. Liu let this sentiment linger for a few minutes before furiously scribbling a not-as-nasty note to the young Fire Lord, informing him of this most recent, devastating event.

It was only after he made his way to the small aviary to send the hawk, that he, again, realized someone might feel the repercussions of this worse than everyone else.  _Ty Lee._ His brows creased at the thought and he felt his chest tighten at how she might react.  _A discarded painting in a cell full of her other abandoned gifts._

Clutching the letter in his hand, he fleetingly entertained the idea of going to the palace to deliver the news in person, but decided he had to remain here for now to oversee the guards' searches and begin any interior investigations. Later, he would catch a ferry and make his way to the Fire Lord.

With a terrible feeling, he tucked the wrinkled letter into a leather pouch and strapped it to a handsome palace bound messenger hawk. Stepping out of the enclosure, he released the bird and watched as it disappeared in the morning sky, towards the looming crater that was the capital city.

Through his overwhelming concern about the princess's well-being and his own injured guards, the corner of his mouth briefly twitched upwards as he thought of the elation that Azula was surely experiencing under the sun while she ran wherever she pleased. He immediately felt guilty for the thought and rushed back inside.


	29. Chapter 29

Azula stopped sprinting when she began to make out the rooftops of the nearby village. She walked slowly for the remaining minutes to relax her heartbeat and catch her breath. During her time on the road, she hadn't passed anyone else walking, but now that she was on the village's doorstep, a handful of people were setting out towards her, probably to wait for the ferry to the capital.

The village was not as small as she originally thought. There were a good number of shops and restaurants, with little houses scattered in between. Bright reddish orange lanterns had been strung up along the buildings for some sort of early spring festival and the streets were bustling with morning foot traffic.

Because of the strangely high level of activity, Azula kept to the outskirts of the village, not wanting any needless attention drawn to the random person in armor. She passed along the backside alley of a series of houses.  _If they can be_ called _houses, they're utterly derelict_. Spotting a poster tacked up against one of them, she halted and narrowed her golden eyes.

Her brother's illustrated face stared out at her, complete with his Fire Lordly hair piece. Azula couldn't help the rumble of jealous anger that spread through her chest. But she ignored it, instead savoring the fact that she had slipped out from beneath his uncaring grasp.

Below the inked portrait was a message calling for citizens to be wary of a thief that had been "terrorizing" and "wreaking havoc" throughout the Fire Nation. She scoffed at the over-dramatic word choice. Initially this person had targeted wealthy nobles, but it seemed they were no longer limiting themselves to the upper class. Several local poor families had reported break-ins as well. No matter the social status, the same items were always taken: gold, komodo chicken, and rice. Azula snorted.  _What kind of high profile thief steals meat?_

Even with the odd choices, she acknowledged that the person must at least have sufficient skills to evade capture thus far. And she allowed a small smirk at what she suspected was the reason for that success.  _"Do not approach alone, criminal is a skilled earthbender." Hm, letting everyone into the nation seems to be going well for you, Zuzu_.

She ripped the poster off of the house and tucked it under her belt, before continuing to stroll along the alley.

A ball of some kind suddenly ricocheted off the wall in front of her and moments later a small boy with an unruly mop of dark brown hair appeared to collect it. His already big eyes opened even further at the sight of a uniformed guard lurking in an alleyway. He began to run back to the main street where his friends called, but Azula motioned for him to come closer. He did, slowly, clutching the ball to his chest.

Azula wasn't particularly fond of children, they were so whiny and  _dirty_. But she knew they were also exceedingly gullible, easily persuaded under the influence of an adult.

Her mind suddenly formed the image of a man in immaculate crimson imperial robes smirking and calling to her after a training exhibition.

She forced it out of her mind, as her stomach turned strangely.  _Where did that come from?_

The boy was probably seven or eight years old and covered in dusty dirt from playing with his friends in the morning. She asked him, trying to sound friendly, "Do you know where I can find a messenger hawk?"

He had yet to blink, staring in awe at the imposing figure before him. He'd never seen a guard up close before and wondered if they were all so scary. He shivered a little at the voice, swallowed, and nodded, "There are stables at the back of the main road, towards the mountains."

Azula followed his gaze, as he relinquished his iron grip on the ball. She could stick to the alleys and back streets easily enough, hoping the armor wouldn't make her stand out too much. And that this boy didn't go blabbing immediately to his friends. Children had such loose tongues.

She looked back at the boy, "Is there a person who works at these stables?"

"Uh yeah, duh, he takes care of all the animals. He lives next door to them."

She twitched at being addressed so casually, but made a faint sound of acknowledgment and began to walk towards the back of the village. She heard the shuffling of tiny feet behind her and whirled around to find the boy following her.

"Don't you have school?"

He stopped in his tracks, "N-no, it's the Fire Lily Festival this week. We get a vacation!" His eyes lit up at the joyful thought of not having to attend school for a whole week.

She didn't have time for this nonsense. Azula bent down so she was level with his round face and spoke with annoyance, "You shouldn't talk so easily to strangers. Go back to your silly game, before I pop that." She jabbed the ball with her finger to get the message across.

The boy's lip trembled and he ran back out to the main street, holding the ball like it was a highly sought after treasure.

Azula rolled her eyes and continued winding her way through the houses and shops, until she reached a clearing where the stables were. A shack of a house was positioned nearby, likely the place where the stable hand resided.

She strode up to the enclosure and pushed past a little wooden gate to enter the stable. Her eyes immediately latched on to a source of travel and she remembered another piece of information Ty Lee had given her some time ago.

" _Two mongoose lizards tethered to the outside gates… People from the nearby village must have used them to visit someone here."_

That seemed to be the case. There were three mongoose lizards and three ostrich horses, all resting on the hay covered floor. The hawks were napping on little perches at one corner of the room. Only two were present at the moment, the other perches were vacant.

She also realized that she was the only human currently inside. Glancing out one of the windows, she saw a little trail of smoke spiraling into the sky from the shack's chimney.  _He must still be inside. Perfect._

Azula pulled the poster she'd taken from her belt and flattened it out against one of the walls. A long forgotten phrase had entered her mind upon exiting the institution and she thought its counterpart would be a positively  _charming_ thing to send to Zuko. Grinning, she produced a tiny flame at the tip of her index finger and scorched the nice little message for her brother on the paper.

When she finished, she strode over to rouse one of the hawks marked with a royal insignia and jammed the message into a worn leather pouch. Strapping it to the bird, she brought it outside and shook the creature free, sending it screeching into the sky towards the capital. She watched it for a minute, hands at her hips, before she heard footsteps rushing her way.

A man was barreling at her from out of the shack, waving his arms. She merely watched, turning her helmeted head towards him as he approached. He was dressed in patchy clothes and smelled like he and the stables had coalesced. She turned her nose up at him.

"Hey. Hey! You can't send a bird without consulting me first!" he looked at her angrily.

She raised an eyebrow, though he could not see it through the helmet, and gestured towards the sky, "It looks like I just did. Try to call it back if you like."

He huffed and crossed his arms, "What's your business here? Usually the guards stick close to the institution."

"I had to send an urgent message to the Fire Lord. All of our birds were being used. Doctor's orders," she said sweetly. And it was true, she  _had_ sent a message to dear Zuzu. Azula was only disappointed she wouldn't see his face when he opened it.

The man looked skeptical, but he had no reason to doubt this person, "It's two silver pieces to send a hawk." He held out his hand expectantly.

"And how much is it for the other animals?"

He shot her a quizzical look, slowly withdrawing his hand, "Eight gold per day for a mongoose lizard, four for an ostrich horse."

Azula walked back into the stables, the man tagging along at her heel. She approached the group of larger animals and looked them over. Turning back to the eager man she stated simply, "Well, that's just not going to work," and swiftly kneed him in the gut.

He doubled over while Azula retrieved one of the extra sets of reins hanging against the front of the building. She tied his hands behind his back, somewhat roughly, and for the moment secured him to the gate of the stable. Before he caught his breath to shout for help, Azula had stripped the breastplate from her body and ripped a portion of the red undershirt to use as a gag. She stuffed the cloth into the man's mouth and then removed the rest of her guard clothing.

The pieces all clanked to the ground in a heap, leaving Azula back in her red shift from the institution, bunched awkwardly around the roll of bandages and jar of ointment. She decided to keep the too large boots for now, not wanting her feet to get scraped from roaming outside. Azula considered swapping them for the stable man's, but instantly shuddered at the thought of wearing  _stable_ boots. Who knows what kind of filth this man had stepped in?

She looked down at him, bound to the stable, and grinned at the confusion in his eyes, "Do you not know me? I suppose not, what with being kept away from the public eye all these years."

Recognition dawned on him as she lit a flame on her fingertip. She let her long hair down, shaking it from the messy topknot. Instead of redoing it completely, she tied it in a less militaristic style, similar to how she'd worn it so many years ago on Ember Island. The top middle portion was secured with the elastic band of the guard's outfit, leaving the rest to frame her face and fall down her shoulders and back. Even fewer people would recognize her this way.

She sighed and ripped another strip of cloth from the discarded clothes on the ground. Approaching the struggling man, she knelt in front of him and sneered, "I thought I was harder to forget."

Wrapping the cloth around his eyes, she undid the reins and led him out the side of the stable that faced the mountains, not the village. Here, he was hidden enough from view and so Azula tied him again to a nearby hitching post.

She reentered the stables and selected the mongoose lizard she wanted. Each animal had already been fitted with a saddle and reins, so she merely untied the beast from its post and was about to mount it before an idea struck her.

Azula quickly untied all of the animals from their current positions and shooed the remaining hawk outside where it bobbed nervously back and forth on the ground. She then opened the gates of the stables, mounted her lizard, and sent a blast of blue fire to the stack of hay near the back corner, where it instantly erupted in a cloud of smoke and flame.

The animals screeched at the now orange fire, and bolted out of the gates, scattering in several directions. Azula managed to guide her hissing and bucking lizard towards the mountains and away from the blaze engulfing the stables.

She dug her heels into the side of the animal beneath her and it rocketed towards the tree line in the distance. Glancing behind her, she saw the stable man panicking at the sudden wave of intense heat nearby, but knew he was far enough away for any licking tongues of flame or falling wood to miss him.

Facing forwards in the saddle, Azula reflected on how well today had gone. She settled into the undulating rhythm of the lizard, wind blowing her hair behind her, and headed east where she would begin to follow the coast, searching for passage to the string of Fire Nation islands.


	30. Chapter 30

The sun was already peeking through the dark red curtains of Zuko's canopy bed, when he finally woke up that Tuesday morning. He sat up and stretched, mouth slightly open and eyes still half shut with sleep. Zuko rolled off of his bed and began to pull on simple pants and a t-shirt to wear beneath his heavier Fire Lord garb.

A knock at his door prompted Zuko to grant entrance in a raspy voice. Two servants came in, bringing his robes, crest, and a brush. He slipped into the maroon robes that one of the ladies held out blushingly for him. After his clothes were all situated, he sat in a chair and allowed the women to brush his shoulder length hair out and style half of it into a topknot. His crest was fastened in place and the servants retreated back into the hall.

Zuko yawned and approached the small desk in his room, piled high with plans for the meetings that would take place today. Aang and the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe representatives would only be present for another three days, but if Zuko was being honest, he hoped that they'd made enough progress on colonial property exchanges and fleshing out a new unified city location to  _possibly_ cut the week short.

A voice in the back of his head questioned what kind of Fire Lord would secretly wish to be rid of his allies' presence. He answered himself, o _ne that is stressed about other upcoming meetings._

Indeed, Zuko was occupied with thoughts of how his next discussion with Mai and Ty Lee would go regarding Azula. Ever since the tense atmosphere of last Monday, he feared that the same thing would happen: the three of them would argue endlessly about his sister but nothing significant would get done. Perhaps Dr. Liu could be consulted for suggestions. Zuko was sure the doctor would be ready and willing to help.

And then there was Mai… He hadn't spoken to her since they broke up a few years ago, though he had seen her occasionally from a distance, as her Earth Kingdom duties often brought her to the palace to consult with advisors. But her sudden appearance with Ty Lee had flustered him more than he'd like to admit. They hadn't exactly ended on a good note, but even just thinking of her now caused a slight flush to creep across his cheeks.  _We shared some pretty good times too._

He sighed.  _Those thoughts can wait until this weekend when we meet. I should give my full attention to the representatives here today. They deserve it, coming from so far away._

Zuko stretched again to try and wake up and walked out of his chambers towards his favorite dining room for some breakfast.

Along the way, he spotted a few of his generals talking cheerfully with some Earth Kingdom guards. It was nice to see them finally getting along. There was so much hostility at first. Though even now, the Fire Nation was surely looked on with hatred from citizens of the other nations. _Still so much work to do._

Zuko entered the dining room and sat to begin eating a heavy breakfast of porridge, fruit, rice, and bread. He had to stock up now or he'd be starving by the time mid-morning rolled around.

After a few minutes, a soldier entered the room and bowed before him. He held out a crumpled looking note, "Fire Lord Zuko, this just arrived via messenger hawk."

Zuko took the note, turned it over in his hand, and raised his eyebrow at the man, "Was there no seal?"

The man looked taken aback at the subtle hint that he was suspected of opening the Fire Lord's mail, "No, sir. It is just as I received it."

"Alright, you're dismissed."

The soldier bowed again and retreated from the room, leaving Zuko alone at the table to smooth out the crinkled yellowed paper. He was confused at first as he briefly glimpsed his own face before averting his gaze and reaching for another bite of bread, wondering if this was some kind of joke.  _The notice we posted about the thief? Who knew how to send a letter directly to me? Most mail from civilians is sorted out._

As he turned back to look closer, his question was answered immediately. Zuko read the familiar handwriting scorched just beneath his face on the poster. He stopped chewing as his blood turned to ice.

_ Lucky to be born. _

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and he swallowed hard. Not many knew the history of that phrase.

_ No. There's no way. How did she get this? Maybe Dr. Liu gave it to her. And then let her burn a message into it? Maybe it's her idea of a joke. She always liked to toy with people. Or maybe it isn't her at all.  _ Ridiculous. Zuko knew those thoughts were all ridiculous. So he settled on the one making his stomach churn.

_ She got out. _

"Excuse me sir, there's another letter here for you. Are-are you alright, sir?" A different guard had entered the room.

Zuko felt the color drain from his face and he realized his hands were shaking as he held his sister's taunt. "Yes. Yes, I'm fine. Just leave the letter." As an afterthought he added, "and send for Ty Lee at lunchtime."

The man nodded. Zuko snatched up the other letter and felt his hope of being mistaken wither away at the sight of the mental institution's seal. He ripped it open and read it, eyes zooming back and forth across the simple note:

_ Fire Lord Zuko, _

_ It is with great regret that I must inform you of your sister's disappearance from her room this morning. We sent out a primary search party to comb nearby areas with what little guard force we are equipped with. _

_ I would have delivered this news to you in person, but felt my presence was necessary here to begin investigating how this could possibly have happened. At the end of the day, I will make my way to the palace on the ferry to further talk this through with you. _

_ I am deeply sorry that this happened under my watch. I cannot apologize enough. _

_ Dr. Kai Liu _

Zuko sat in utter disbelief, eyes staring blankly down at the two letters in front of him. The breakfast he had eaten settled heavily in his stomach. He put his head in his hands and was surprised at how empty he felt.  _Shouldn't I be angry? Disappointed? Sad? Afraid? Anything?_ But he felt nothing, only the numbness that accompanied shock.

Mai's parting words suddenly came back to him. " _Keep an eye on her."_

His thoughts were bitter.  _I should have taken her more seriously_.

He allowed himself another minute of inactivity, before rousing from his stupor and calling to the soldiers he knew were stationed just outside the door. They entered and he ordered them to send a hawk to Dr. Liu telling him to stay put, that he and Ty Lee would be making their way to the institution at the end of the day.

The rest of the morning was a blur. He was physically present at every meeting, but Zuko was hardly paying attention. He guessed that the other attendees probably noticed, because they stopped questioning him for his opinion early on and instead referred to one of Zuko's highly trusted generals. Feeling a bit guilty, he tried to contribute to the ongoing trade debates just before lunch, but couldn't articulate his thoughts well. In the end, he gave up and left the business to his general.

Sokka approached him at lunchtime, concerned. His sister and Aang had been at a different gathering that morning, more related to healing international relations and establishing a common city rather than settling lingering trade and geographical disputes.

"Everything alright?" Sokka had grown significantly since the war. His head was shaved, aside from his signature wolf tail, and a light coating of stubble spread across his jaw. Because they were in the Fire Nation, Sokka was dressed in lighter clothes than the furs usually seen on Water Tribe members, but they were still dyed blue.

Zuko blinked, the words took a second to register, "Uh, yes. Yeah, I'm fine." He didn't want to bring Azula up right now.

Sokka narrowed his blue eyes skeptically at Zuko, before perking up, "Okay, I'm gonna meet Katara and get some lunch. I've had my eye on that spicy roasted chicken since yesterday." He shook his head to keep from drooling and waved at Zuko.

Zuko couldn't help a small smile at the man's ever present appetite. He glanced out of their meeting room and sobered immediately at the sight of a woman dressed in pink at the far end of the hallway. She was fidgeting restlessly with her braid as she walked towards the Fire Lord.

The sight of a royal guard entering the boutique had nearly stopped Ty Lee's heart. She asked what it was all about, but the man didn't seem to know and insisted she come with him to the palace. She followed, mind racing with gut churning possibilities.

Now, as she approached Zuko, she again felt that heart-stopping sensation. And not the good kind that sometimes came from seeing his sister. The bad kind. The  _really_ bad kind that accompanied bad news. The Fire Lord's face was serious. His skin was paler than usual, making his scar stand out starkly.  _Relax. Maybe he's just telling me I can go visit Azula again. Ha. I doubt it. Oh Agni, is she dead? Why does he look so awful? I wish Mai was here, but she's gone till Friday._

"Ty Lee," Zuko smiled, a strained gesture that tugged oddly at the corners of his mouth. He put a hand around her shoulders and guided her to a chair, before shutting the door to the meeting room, leaving them alone.

She spun around, keeping her eyes locked onto Zuko at all times, "What's going on? Why did a guard pick me up from work in the middle of the day?"

Zuko sat beside her, lines of worry creasing his forehead. He hesitated.  _Just spit it out. She won't take it well, but she still has to know._

"Zuko, please," she took his hands in hers and looked at him, "what happened to her?"

He spoke so quietly that he wasn't convinced the words actually left his mouth, "She broke out of the institute."

Ty Lee's hands slackened their hold on Zuko's and she brought them to twist in her lap.  _Oh thank the spirits she's alive. She's who knows where, but she's alive_.

The relief was overwhelming and she could feel her shoulders tremble as a response. Yet her heart was still heavy at the knowledge that she wouldn't be seeing Azula for a while. And she restrained a gasp at remembering one of the last things the princess had said to her.

" _Doesn't it feel awful? To be so suddenly informed that things aren't what you thought?"_

She rested her head in her hands.  _But what more could I have done? I thought things were okay. She could have told me what she was thinking, maybe I could have… What? Helped her escape? That's stupid, I wouldn't have done that. But she could have… she could have_ said  _something._

Zuko's voice was shaky when he spoke again and Ty Lee realized he was on the verge of tears, "I'm sorry I didn't let you see her before this happened. It's my fault. If I was… if I had been better to her, maybe she wouldn't have left."

She looked at him sadly, but something about seeing the Fire Lord crumpled over a table, eyes shining with unshed tears for his runaway sister, irritated her.  _If he cared this much all along, why didn't he do anything sooner?_

Ty Lee replied without thinking. She gripped his hand again and waited until he looked her in the eyes, "It's-it's okay, but… she was getting better, Zuko. I think she really was. You should have gone to see her. Then you would have seen for yourself, you could have let her out of there. Maybe just kept watch over her here."

He stared back at her, aghast that she'd reinforced his deepest regrets. But instead of being angry, that hollowness still remained, "I know." He lowered his head, "I'm sorry."

They stayed like that for a few minutes. Zuko quietly talking to himself, voicing regrets and what ifs. Ty Lee replaying her last visit with Azula over and over in her head, finding it harder to keep from breaking down with each playback.

"What should we do?" she asked.

Zuko finally raised his head, "I'm going to see Dr. Liu after the rest of my meetings, if you want to come. He'll tell us more about what happened. As for finding her," he looked away hastily, "I don't know. She won't want to be found by any of us."

Ty Lee knew Zuko was right. Azula excelled at everything and Ty Lee guessed this would also apply to evading recapture. If she didn't want to be found, they would never find her. A weight had settled in Ty Lee's chest.  _I wish I could see her._

She looked up at the ceiling, tracing the gilded molding with her eyes. Randomly she smiled, a stray thought permeating the gloom, and said, "Do you think she's bending right now? Probably, right? She hasn't done it properly in almost five years."

Zuko followed Ty Lee's gaze and settled his eyes on the ceiling as well. He cleared his throat and responded in a steadier voice, "If I know her at all, that's the first thing she did."

They sat in silence, brooding over the unexpected harrowing news of the morning. Soon, a guard knocked on the door and informed Zuko that the meetings would be resuming shortly. The Fire Lord nodded and told Ty Lee he would meet her outside the palace's front entrance once his meetings were complete.

He stood, having regained his composure, and strode from the room, quickly pocketing the two letters.

Meanwhile, Ty Lee waited a few moments, asked a guard to help her send a message to Mai, and then set out for Azula's room. Upon entering, she flopped down on the untouched bed, desperate to catch a hint of the princess's perfume. When nothing but dust tickled her nose, she let a few angry tears fall freely this time, slamming a fist into the deep red silk sheets.

_ You idiot. You completely stupid idiot princess. Why did you leave? Why didn't you tell me? _

" _Doesn't it feel awful? To be so suddenly informed that things aren't what you thought?"_

Her chest ached.  _Yes, it's awful. I hate you too._


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey readers! This is going to be the last chapter for a little while, I'm afraid. Work is an extremely stressful issue at the moment, so I need some time to figure things out. Hopefully with a nice holiday break coming up soon, I'll be able to relax and crank out a few more chapters. Don't worry! I promise it will continue :D

Hours later, Zuko and a thoroughly cried-out Ty Lee met outside the palace entrance to make their way to see Dr. Liu.

Zuko was noticeably solemn. He hadn't broken the news of Azula's disappearance to anyone else yet, figuring that many would call for an immediate and broad search to find her. As much as he actually  _wanted_  this to happen, wishing for peace of mind regarding his sister's whereabouts and whatever she was doing, he was worried that some of the foreign officials would not treat her kindly if they were the ones to somehow locate her first. Unlike many in the Fire Nation who continued to see her as a prodigy to be reckoned with, some foreigners still held grudges against her for the side she'd taken during the war.

The young Fire Lord wanted to visit the scene of the escape first, speak with the doctor to get more information, and then he would consider launching a recovery effort.

They walked in silence, Ty Lee trailing slightly behind Zuko, both occupied by their own thoughts. A number of soldiers were escorting them to an airfield, where a ship would take them to Azula's former holding place.

The airship they boarded was a scaled down version of the ones so famously used during the Hundred Year War. Most of those had been lost during the final confrontation with Team Avatar. Post-war, a great effort was considered to reestablish the might and force of the Fire Nation's army, but Zuko found it would be far too expensive and the resources would be better allocated for rebuilding civilian homes and historical buildings. Little by little, their technology would be updated and rebuilt, but for now, a few smaller airships for simple travel purposes would suffice.

The pair sat at the front of the ship, near the captain in charge of navigation. From down the hall, Zuko felt a whoosh of heat as firebenders generated the ship's power and soon they jolted into the air.

Ty Lee held her breath. She had never been the biggest fan of flying. Performing acrobatics high off the ground where she was in control was one thing, but being suspended hundreds of feet in the air, relying completely on the stamina of firebenders was another. Her hands were clenched into fists in her lap and she focused on them to keep from staring at the rapidly receding ground.

Zuko, meanwhile, stared at what lay outside the wide window. They had risen straight off of the ground and were beginning to slowly propel forwards. The trip would only take ten or so minutes, it was much quicker than waiting for the ferry, though the fresh air of the sea would have been nice.

He watched the volcanic terrain of the caldera fade beneath him as they began to move over the glistening blue waters of the sea. Zuko kept his eyes trained on the bit of coastline that still was within sight, part of him hoping he'd see a flash of blue flame erupt from somewhere nearby. He sighed.  _Don't be dumb, she wouldn't do something reckless_.

Glancing to his left, he saw Ty Lee sitting white-knuckled. She clearly would have preferred the ferry. Zuko tapped her shoulder and she turned towards him, chewing her lip.

He offered a small smile and pointed out the window, "Don't worry, it'll only be for a few more minutes. I think I can already make out the shoreline we're headed for."

Ty Lee gave a short nod and simply returned to her previous position. Her stomach was starting to feel a little queasy, so she tried to occupy her mind with happy thoughts of cute animals and bright auras to distract herself.

Thankfully, Zuko was right. After another five minutes, the airship slowed and began a steady descent to the flat expanse of land on the north side of the walled-in mental facility.

Even from the air, the building looked quite imposing. Its metallic surfaces glinted oddly in the dying sunlight. Zuko couldn't help but wonder how exactly his sister had managed to get out of the place unnoticed. It was well guarded and Toph herself had made sure that the metal wall and gate surrounding the building were secure. As far as Zuko could tell, from the slowly landing airship, there didn't appear to be any damage to the facility at all.

_How did she do it?_

They landed softly in the grass and exited the airship. Ty Lee savored the feeling of the ground beneath her feet and let out the breath she'd been holding throughout the short trip. The soldiers had prepared the Fire Lord's palanquin and Zuko was about to refuse, so he could walk alongside Ty Lee, when she quietly shook her head, "It's fine. Go ahead."

He watched her face scrunch into a forced smile before she turned away from him and began to walk towards the institute, her hands fidgeting behind her back. Those were the only words she'd spoken to him since he left her at lunchtime.

Zuko knew Ty Lee was disappointed in him for the way he'd handled Azula's situation. And now that he'd held her back from seeing Azula before she escaped, he felt terribly guilty. Ty Lee hadn't been her regular bubbly self in his presence since… the war? Was that right?

She had resided on Kyoshi Island up until last summer, always refusing the requests Zuko sent for guard opportunities. Suki or some other girls usually came in her stead. Ty Lee's visits to the palace only began after she decided to start seeing Azula. And those visits had been strained at best.

He sighed again as he stepped into the palanquin and watched Ty Lee's retreating back through the sheer red curtains.  _Everything's such a mess_.

Another few minutes' walk and the small group arrived at the front entrance of the facility. The few guards that were left outside had bowed respectfully as the palanquin passed, but Zuko could sense the whispering at his back. He knew Dr. Liu had kept information about Azula's stay here strictly confidential, but he doubted the man could avoid this newest bombshell getting out. Zuko could only imagine the tales the guards would spin.

He hoped their whispers would stay within the walls of the institute.

Zuko emerged from his palanquin and reunited with Ty Lee. Her arms were crossed as she restlessly tapped her fingertips against them. She nodded her head towards the door and led Zuko inside the place he hadn't visited in a long time.

Dr. Liu was leaning against the front desk, clearly waiting for the duo to arrive. As soon as they entered, he immediately bowed and apologies tumbled out of his mouth.

Zuko instructed him to rise and asked the only question on his mind, "What exactly happened?"

The doctor looked sadly at Ty Lee, who had ceased her fidgeting upon entering the building. Her eyes were cast down at the floor and she gripped her arms tightly. Dr. Liu felt his gut clench at the sight of the poor woman, "Let's go to her room, I will explain everything there and perhaps you can enlighten me about something as well, Fire Lord Zuko."

They descended to the basement, all the while trailed by Zuko's soldiers. Ty Lee usually took these stairs with at least some level of excitement, but today was completely different. Her footsteps were heavy and her shoulders slumped. Knowing that the source of her visits was no longer here made this whole process seem empty and unnecessary. She wasn't so sure why she came. Did it really matter how she got out? All she knew was that Azula was gone and she was unsure if she'd see the princess again.

They soon reached the door to Azula's room and when Dr. Liu pulled it open, Ty Lee was sort of surprised the whole thing hadn't been scorched and blown to oblivion. It was as intact as ever.

Zuko furrowed his brow as he took a look around, "When did all of this happen?" He gestured to the padded walls and carpet.

Dr. Liu bit the inside of his cheek, fearing this part of the meeting. Ty Lee briefly met his eye, knowing exactly why he appeared so nervous.  _Zuko will not be happy the doctor kept so much from him…_

"Please, let's sit. There are a few things you should know," Dr. Liu led them to the chairs and couch of the guest portion of the room and waited until the Fire Lord was seated before taking a seat of his own. He launched into the now weeks-old story.

"Several weeks ago there was an incident. Your sister had a violent hallucination and ended up conjuring lightning—"

" _What?!_ " Zuko's face was a medley of surprise, confusion, and anger. "You never thought to mention this earlier?"

Dr. Liu swallowed, but maintained a calm demeanor. He had known that Zuko would react like this. "I'm sorry, Fire Lord Zuko, but please allow me to finish. I will explain myself and everything that has happened."

Zuko glared at him but stayed silent, signaling for the doctor to continue.

"Azula hallucinated your father attacking her, first physically and then with lightning, injuring her leg. She also sustained bruises on her neck. Obviously your father was not actually in the room, so it stands to reason that Azula inflicted these injuries on herself. We removed her from the room as soon as the guard notified me of what happened and our healer treated her. Her leg is fully functional, but there will probably be some scarring. After the incident, we made these changes to her room to prevent such a result if it happened again."

He paused, gauging the Fire Lord's reaction. Zuko blinked and turned to Ty Lee, who was sitting silently beside him. He spoke tersely, "Did you know about this?"

She raised her eyes to meet his, "Yes. Dr. Liu sent me a letter as soon as it happened and I went to see her the next morning." Zuko clenched his fists in his lap. Ty Lee saw and headed off the outburst, "I didn't tell you because I figured you'd just lock her away for good."

His gaze relaxed slightly, "I wouldn't have… punished her for doing something she couldn't help."

"Isn't that what you've been doing this whole time?"

Her voice was soft, but Zuko received the message like a shot to the chest. He stiffened, "Let's not do this again here."

Ty Lee tossed her braid over her shoulder and stood up, wandering through the unlocked barred door and roaming around the room. She sat on the edge of Azula's bed and waited for the doctor to resume speaking.

His quiet voice soon rang through the room as he filled Zuko in on everything. The suspicious and continuous burns, the cooling, the gradual allowance of time alone with Ty Lee. At this, Zuko's head jerked towards the woman as she leaned back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. She didn't say a word.

Dr. Liu then told of how he'd agreed to two visits to the patient care room and eventually a private bath. Although the Fire Lord's temper was rising at his orders of containing Azula having been so flagrantly disobeyed, he kept quiet and let the doctor go on.

Finally, the man explained what happened that morning. Finding out from two of the outer gate's guards that Azula had escaped under the guise of the man who'd been in charge of her that night. How she'd knocked him unconscious with lightning and apparently blasted through the hinges of the barred door. How she wore the guard's clothes and hid him in the closet near the stairs. How she simply walked outside to freedom, roughing up two more guards on the way.

He also shared the newest information: that she had torched a stable, terrified the man in charge of the animals, and taken off on one of them. The guards could not say whether she left on ostrich horse or mongoose lizard, or which way she went. Their footprints were scattered in several directions in their hasty escape from the flames. Probably to throw the pursuers off, exactly as Azula intended.

Zuko sat listening to all of the words, but was not able to fully comprehend them. After several moments of silence he spoke up, trying to contain his frustration, "So, after all of the reinforcements we made to this facility, after all of the guards we hired, after  _years_  of carefully keeping her in this room, she just  _walked out the front door?_ "

The doctor held the gaze of the Fire Lord and uttered the unfortunate answer, "Yes."

Zuko slammed a fist against the stiff cushions of the couch he sat on. He glared furiously across the room after a hysterical laugh erupted from Ty Lee.

"Is something funny?"

Ty Lee rested her head against the wall as a crazed smile spread across her face, "You  _don't_  think it's funny? All of your efforts didn't even faze her. She just  _left_. She was so unhappy and trapped in here that she walked out. Just like that. You should have listened to me, Zuko. When she was treated kindly, she seemed to feel at least a little better. All of this…" she indicated the blankets and pillows, "I was trying to help her, while you just threw her in a metal box for four years, expecting her to get better on her own. Even if she never admits it, she has feelings. I know she was lonely and hurt over thinking she'd just been left to rot in here."

Zuko clenched his teeth and quickly glanced at Dr. Liu, who seemed  _awfully_ tickled by what Ty Lee had just said, "I  _know_. But  _you_ waited four entire years to see her. Did you forget that?"

Ty Lee merely looked away as Zuko continued, "I told you I didn't go about this the right way. But if you remember, I also said I was going to change that. You, Mai, and I were all going to talk about what to do next. It just so happens that Azula's timing is wonderful as always and she managed to get out before I could start to fix how I treated her in the past."

Dr. Liu intervened and changed the subject before the tension of the conversation erupted, "If I may, Fire Lord Zuko, I am curious about the lightning. Azula was able to conjure it down here, when she could not even produce her regular flame. Had I known she could do this all along, we would have taken other precautions."

Zuko tore his gaze away from a still wickedly smiling Ty Lee, wondering if part of his sister's personality had managed to latch on to the innocent acrobat before she escaped. He inhaled and swept a hand over his hair before explaining the differences between firebending and lightning generation.

He then commented, "It's difficult to do. I can only redirect lightning, though I've tried many times with Uncle to produce it myself. I… didn't think she would be able to do it so far below ground, but I guess lightning is more about the surrounding energies of a place and less about temperature and breath," he bit his tongue.  _Still though, conjuring lightning in a metal room so far beneath the ground is… Ugh. Dammit, Azula._

"I see. I'm sorry, I did not realize the difference," the doctor rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Zuko couldn't blame the man for not knowing. Only a handful of firebenders were able to understand  _and_  produce lightning. It just so happened that Azula was one of them.

"It's alright. I didn't think she could do it here either." His mind suddenly focused on the people his sister had struck down, "The man she hit with lightning, is he alright? And the others?"

Dr. Liu paused and looked concerned, "He is alive, but his injury is serious. He was hit square in the back and is still unconscious. The other three men are fine. The guards were quickly treated for minor injuries and released earlier this afternoon, while the stable keeper is resting in his own home. He was more psychologically shaken than anything else."

Zuko breathed a sigh of relief.  _Well, she didn't kill anyone, so that will work in my favor when I break the news to everyone else._

"You said she broke through the hinges of the door. How? Lightning doesn't just shatter metal," Zuko stroked the dark little beard at his chin.

"I'm afraid I don't know. I simply assumed it was the force of the lightning. Perhaps we will learn more after our extensive investigation."

Zuko filed this away in his mind before continuing to talk to Dr. Liu about what to do next. While Azula wasn't exactly a criminal escapee, Zuko knew he couldn't simply let her run free. Despite this, they agreed to wait on sending out notifications to nearby villages in the Fire Nation. Zuko didn't think she would attack anyone; there was no reason for her to do such a thing.

He was admittedly a little nervous though, now that she was roaming under the sun, her bending would be back to full strength. Even if she'd been isolated and out of practice for so long, Zuko knew it was better to preach caution than recklessness when it came to Azula.

He decided to inform the Avatar and his friends tomorrow morning. Zuko would run the decisions by Aang and would be glad to take any insight or suggestions regarding the best way to treat her disappearance. He figured it would be best to wait to formulate any plans on foreign soil until he talked it out with everyone.

Part of him knew, however, that now that Azula had wriggled out of this place, finding her and bringing her back would be nearly impossible. She was terribly smart and could probably avoid capture for as long as she wanted to. She had the upper hand, as much as it annoyed him.

While he and Dr. Liu discussed these plans, Ty Lee stared blankly at them, feeling quite unlike herself.  _Talk about a dingy aura._ She hadn't thought Azula's sudden disappearance would bother her so much, but it did and she couldn't seem to shake the weight from her shoulders.

Her feet swept back and forth along the carpeted floor, rustling against something. She bent over and came across the meadow she painted for Azula in the patient care room. Picking it up, she felt a flash of silly anger.  _Why? Did I really think she would take something like this with her?_ Dr. Liu glanced over as she tossed the paper back to the floor and lay on the bed.

She slipped her hand beneath the dislodged pillows, searching for the one gift Ty Lee thought Azula might take with her. When her fingers only brushed against cool sheets, she knew the little crest was gone. This only made her feel worse.  _She didn't care about what I made for her. She only wanted the thing that was originally hers. I was just the messenger that happened to bring it to her._

Ty Lee found herself growing increasingly angry at Azula for running away instead of facing her issues.  _I was trying to_ help _you…_ She caught a whiff of the shampoo that she brought for the princess so long ago and her mind flashed back to what they'd done in this bed. The chill that spread down her back at the pleasurable memory betrayed her feelings of anger.  _Ugh, get her out of my heart. I'm sick of this feeling_.

She stood up suddenly, alarming the two men on the other side of the bars, "I think I'm going to head home."

Zuko nodded and figured it was a good idea. He wanted to get back before it was too late, so he would have time to think of how to share this news with everyone tomorrow.

Dr. Liu stood and bowed again, "My apologies for this, Fire Lord Zuko. I cannot say it enough."

Zuko looked sternly at the man, but again, found he couldn't blame him entirely for what happened. His own conscious was feeling too heavy at the moment, "Thank you. I'm sure we'll be in contact."

He waved at Ty Lee to follow him, offering a small smile. She looked at him in such an uncharacteristically detached way, that it disturbed him. Her voice was quiet, "I'll take the ferry."

Zuko couldn't hide his hurt expression, but acquiesced, "Of course. Have a safe trip. You are welcome to join me at the palace in the morning when I tell everyone about what happened. I'm sure they would like your input on what to do."

Ty Lee nodded and agreed to think about it. Zuko exited the room and soon the footsteps of he and his soldiers faded.

Dr. Liu approached the clearly dejected Ty Lee. He put a hand on her shoulder, "This isn't your fault. You must know that this isn't your fault."

"Maybe if I had just… I thought she might stay because of me. I thought I was getting through to her, but at our last visit, before Zuko told me to stop coming, she said she hated me. She still doesn't trust me. I don't think she'll ever forgive me," she toyed with her braid and spoke half to herself. "Do you think she'll ever…?"

As much as he didn't want to be, Dr. Liu felt that being honest was the best thing for her right now, "I don't think so, not fully. With time, she might return to her old ways around you, but without proper help, I think it will be extremely difficult for her to trust anyone again. What happened that day cut her deeply."

Ty Lee sighed, having no tears left to spill.  _When someone else says it, it sounds so hopeless._ She looked at the doctor's kind brown eyes and barely smiled, "We aren't exactly what you'd call a healthy relationship, huh?"

He smiled softly, "Not quite. She was being quite genuine when she requested the one on one visit with you, after you sparked the visit to the patient care room. Even with those faint instances of care, I think it would be easier for you to entertain the idea of just being a friend to support her for now. You can both work out the other romantic aspects after some more time has passed."

She swallowed that bitter pill of advice, knowing he was right. Mai had told her to give up long ago, but Ty Lee couldn't help holding on to an ever fading shred of hope. Now it seemed that shred was all but obliterated, and being Azula's friend would have to do. The thought of the princess possibly being truly grateful for the care room trip was barely reassuring.

_You_ think  _she was being genuine. You can never know for sure._

Several minutes later, Ty Lee waited at the coast for the last ferry of the day. Dusk had fallen and cast its eerie spell over the landscape. The water glistened and a chilly evening breeze tousled the hair on her forehead. She sat by the water as a few other people gathered to head back to the city, and stared up at the sky.

Mai would be back from Omashu in a few days and Ty Lee was very much looking forward to unleashing all of these feelings on her. Mai would not be happy about it; the thought cheered her slightly. Ty Lee could only imagine the torrent of eye rolls and sighs that awaited her.


	32. Chapter 32

Azula shivered. She'd been travelling all day and was now hunched over a small fire in the dead of night. Her mongoose lizard lay fast asleep, tied up to a nearby tree.

She inhaled the fresh air and played one of her hands across the fire, briefly turning it a brilliant blue. It was comforting to see that color whenever she pleased. After being unable to produce a significant flame for so long, Azula was sure she would never take her bending ability for granted again.

Her eyes drifted upwards. There was no sign of the moon, making the stars stand out brilliantly against the dark sky. She remembered that some people claimed they could see outlines of important historical and legendary figures amongst patterns in the stars, but other than for navigation, Azula had not had time to learn about such things.

Sitting alone at the fire, the princess was disappointed to find that the high she experienced from escaping the institution hadn't lasted long at all. She was, of course, elated at having gotten out so easily, but now she was feeling strangely unfulfilled. She was a little cold, wearing only her light shift after discarding most of the guard's clothing earlier, but her bending was no longer being suppressed and the time she served in the cooler of the institute had increased her tolerance for chilly weather.

Unfortunately, her time there had  _not_  prepared her feet for their sudden return to the world of footwear. Even just from the ride today, the guard's over-sized boots had severely blistered her heels and were now lying near her loyal steed.

Azula absentmindedly thumbed over a blister and stared into the flames, contemplating her next move.

She had decided to head towards the string of islands to the east. The mainland was mostly capital property and small villages where she might easily be recognized. Since the stable man hadn't been able to place her appearance without a reminder, Azula was confident she could blend in on the islands she had never been to. Well, aside from Ember Island, but she had no intention of going back to that pit of memories. Not now anyways.

Her stomach grumbled. She hadn't brought any food with her and knew she'd have to get something in the morning or else she would fall back into her habits of not eating. She needed all the energy she could get, given her current situation.

Azula slumped onto her back and stared at the stars. She'd gotten out. She'd surely make it to the islands with no issue. But then what? Find loyalists to her father? Chip away at Zuko's reign? Play nice and make friends?

The truth was that she didn't know what to do. Azula thought back to when she first arrived at the mental institute and entertained the fantasies of revenge and usurping her brother. She still felt residual anger at all of the people that played a hand in her downfall and of course she would die for the opportunity to rule, but… Something just wasn't clicking.

_What's wrong with me? I'm out. I should be plotting and planning and excited to knock all of those people down._

Instead, she was a little startled to find that she  _didn't_  want to gather a group of nefarious goons to wreak havoc on the capital. After being isolated and imprisoned for almost five years, Azula was unnerved by all of the uncertainties that came with freedom. Right now for some reason, she didn't want anything to do with her brother or the people she still knew in the capital.

_Why? Did that place break me after all?_

She turned over and faced the mongoose lizard grumbling in its sleep a few feet away. Its dark scales were mesmeric, flecked with the orange firelight.

"What's this? Everything has gone so well for you, and yet you're going to do nothing with this opportunity? It seems you're just like your useless brother."

Her eyes snapped open at the voice closing in on her. But when she looked around, all was dark. It was as if her eyes hadn't opened at all. A stabbing pain shot through one of her fingers, radiating through her arm. Her basic reflex to recoil failed. Her arms seemed to be pinned to the ground.

"I knew I had one failure of a child, but you… I never imagined you would end up the same way."

Her hand felt the pain and Azula desperately tried to see through the heavy black curtain shrouding her vision. It was no use. She couldn't move her arms or legs. She was on her back, trapped somehow.

"Are you feeling sorry for yourself? All alone with no one to talk to?"

The pain spread down her wrist, but this time the source lingered longer and Azula could feel an accompanying heat. Fire. The darkness prevented any sight, but Azula could feel the warm trail of blood drip down her hand.

"Come now, you can talk to me."

The space was suddenly illuminated and the princess closed her eyes to save them from the change in brightness. After a moment, she opened them again and found herself on the ground of the palace's training compound.

She saw three slashes on her right arm. One on her finger, one on her hand, and one on her wrist. Out of each oozed a dark black substance that pooled slowly on the dirt.

It didn't look like blood. Blood wasn't black.  _Human_  blood wasn't black.

The pool was growing in size, moving steadily toward her face. Her heart raced in a panic. Somehow she knew it would be the end of her if the substance reached its goal.

"Isn't that right, Azula?"

Ozai finally appeared into view. Azula craned her neck back to where he stood behind her right shoulder, head cocked slightly to one side as he judged her with disdain. She tried to move away, but was held in place by some unknown force.

"What should we discuss? Your stunning collapse at the most inopportune moment?"

He slashed at her with a blade made of fire. A new wound sizzled on her forearm.

"The miraculous success of your brother?"

Upper arm.

"Your foolish encounters with that girl?"

Shoulder.

She tried to yank her wrists and legs free from their invisible bonds, but it was no use. Her limbs might as well have been encased in stone.

The black liquid leaked slowly from her stinging wounds, creeping towards her neck while Ozai bent over to stroke her cheek with his hand.

"Azula, why won't you talk to me?"

She couldn't speak. She couldn't do anything.

He brought the fire blade up to her neck. She was terrified he was going to slit her throat, but he quenched it suddenly, choosing instead to pace around her, staring into eyes that looked just like his.

"My little princess."

The black liquid defied gravity to make its way around her neck and onto her face. She stared at her father, silently pleading for help.

Ozai simply looked on while the substance plugged her airways and the voice of her mother split through the air.

" _M_ _onster_."

Azula lurched awake suddenly, coughing and sputtering. She panicked at finding herself on the ground and not in a cold cell lined with padding and red carpet, slowly understanding that this was her new reality. Without realizing it, after the adrenaline of the day had finally worn off, Azula had fallen asleep suddenly beside the fire.

She wiped her mouth and stood, angrily sending a wild ball of blue flame into the early morning sky, where it quickly fizzled out. Her right shoulder ached from her collision with the bars yesterday. She clenched her teeth and rubbed at it, her other fist still flaring with hot fire at her side. The newly awakened mongoose lizard slithered its tongue out in confusion.

_They were supposed to stop. It was supposed to stop once I got out._

The princess took several breaths to calm down. Her stomach grumbled again and she was reminded of the task at hand.

She proceeded to remove all traces of her presence in the little clearing. She approached her wary lizard after putting the over-sized boots on, wincing at the raw blisters, and calmed the beast with a hand to its snout. Azula untied it, hopped on its back, and set off in the direction of the rising sun. She didn't look back at the site of her newest nightmare, somewhat convinced her parents would be standing in her wake.

When the sun was directly overhead, Azula couldn't take the rubbing of the metal boots against her skin anymore. She halted the lizard at the side of a brook, where they could both get some water and rest before continuing on.

She hopped off the lizard's back and led it to the water where it plunged itself straight in, lapping at the small bubbles tumbling over rocks. Azula thought it had the right idea. She could at least rinse her face to wake herself up and recharge.

The trees in this area shadowed the brook entirely, darkening the water. Although Azula had never been to this part of the forest, she had a feeling they were nearing the coast, perhaps only a couple hours away.

Azula moved several feet upstream from her frolicking lizard, halting before a smoother stretch of water. She cupped her hands beneath the glassy surface and had to stop herself from jerking back at the freezing temperature. The princess braced for the cool shock as she brought the water to her face, but paused, catching a glimpse of her appearance in her hands.

She let the water fall back to its source and settled on her knees, leaning over the brook and staring at a face she hadn't really seen in years.

The water was almost black from the trees overhead, creating a highly reflective surface. Azula stared. And stared. It was a strange feeling. Thinking about it, this was the first time she was looking at herself since she shattered her vanity mirror just before the war ended. Her poor excuse for a bathroom at the institute didn't have any mirrors and prior to her room being covered by white padded material, the walls were a smudged looking metal, not reflective and shiny like steel.

She blinked. Sure, she was still attractive, but her face had thinned over almost five years. Her cheekbones were more pronounced, her jaw pointed and sharp, and her eyes stood out prominently above light blueish-purple shadows. She touched her chapped lips and thought they seemed naked without their usual red coloring. She looked older and exhausted. And if this was what she looked like now, she couldn't imagine what it must have been like when she had refused to eat for weeks at a time.

_Nearly five years gone, just like that_.

Azula shook her head and splashed the water on her face.

She sat by the side of the brook, running her fingers through tangles in her hair, which was also much longer than it used to be, and decided to change the dressing on her leg. The saddle on the mongoose lizard provided a couple of pouches to store her few belongings. She walked slowly to where the creature stood, still standing happily in the water, its thick tail floating back and forth on the surface, and retrieved the roll of bandages, ointment, and her highly prized metal crest.

Realizing she was still wearing the blister-inducing boots, she settled down near the water's edge and gently took them off to inspect what new red sores had developed on her heels and toes. Azula unwrapped the bandages around her left leg and frowned at its appearance.  _Stupid marks_.

She stuck both of her feet into the water, immediately substituting any pain from blisters with ice cold shock.

Minutes later, her leg was securely wrapped again after a hefty reapplication of the medicinal jelly. She figured it wouldn't hurt to rub some of the strange cooling ointment into her blisters and did that as well. The princess redid her hair, tying it up with the guard's elastic black armband and thinking bitterly about a pink ribbon still stuffed in the lizard's saddle.

Azula grumbled to herself and instead focused on the little royal crest in her hand, deciding to pin that into her hair as well. She figured it was safe enough to wear it in the middle of this forest. Once she reached the coast, she'd take it off again, not wanting to take any chances of being recognized just yet.

Although the canopy of trees was somewhat low and thick, Azula thought this would be the perfect time for a little training regimen. The small amount of stretching she had been able to do at the institute wasn't enough. Her body felt considerably less muscular than it had been in the past and the princess wanted to fix this with a few of her old routines.

About an hour later, an out-of-breath but satisfied Azula pulled herself back onto the patiently waiting mongoose lizard and jammed the guard's boots as best she could into the saddlebags. She hoped she could get a little money for them or at least trade them for a better fitting pair.

Setting off, Azula figured it would be a relatively quick ride before she reached the coast. Then it was just a matter of finding a seaside town to get food and new clothes. She hoped her current unconventional clothing and bandaged leg wouldn't arouse too much suspicion from local peasants.  _How pathetic it would be, to be discovered only one day after escaping._

As she dug her knees into the scaly hide of the lizard to speed it up, the princess still felt a sense of unease regarding the numerous uncertainties swimming about her mind, but was calmed by the little metal flame pinned neatly in her hair and the pleasant ache in her muscles from training. She would figure it out. She always did.


	33. Chapter 33

For Ty Lee and Zuko, the night following their visit to the mental institution was restless and uneasy.

Ty Lee was simply angry. She couldn't sleep with her mind analyzing every detail of her interactions with the princess, combing over each moment, searching for any clues that this was going to happen. She had decided to go to the palace in the morning when Zuko told everyone about Azula, but could not predict how she would contribute to the conversation just yet. She tossed and turned, wishing Mai would be back from Omashu in time to go with her.

Zuko couldn't sleep much either. Now that the initial shock of his sister's disappearance had worn off, a new feeling had manifested in him that he mostly identified as a strange form of admiration. Despite Dr. Liu's troubling reports and Ty Lee's mentioning of a few first-hand experiences with his sister's intermittent outbursts, Azula had managed to pull herself together for this one task.

She had held her own secrets and formulated a plan as if it were another one of Father's tests. Zuko was stunned at the news of her escape, of course, but at the same time he was not. This was his cunning, ambitious, terrifying little sister after all. It was almost expected.

Most of the representatives that had gathered for the marathon of meetings would still be present until the end of the week. However, Zuko had requested via letter that Aang, Katara, and Sokka arrive early in the morning to discuss something of the utmost importance. Toph and Iroh were still in the Earth Kingdom. Toph was presumably busy training her recruits in metal bending, but Zuko had a sneaking suspicion that she simply wanted to avoid an entire week of meetings.

His uncle, on the other hand, had intentionally left Zuko on his own for these meetings as some kind of competency test. Well, Iroh hadn't said that explicitly, but this was the first time he hadn't been present for such an important stretch of talks. Zuko had quickly scrawled a letter to his uncle detailing everything that had happened, but there was no way it would reach him quick enough and it certainly wouldn't be enough time to travel from the booming tea business in Ba Sing Se to the Fire Nation palace for a morning meeting. Zuko knew his friends wouldn't be gathered together for much longer and decided to act while he could. He was sure his uncle would understand and be receptive to talking when he arrived at the capital in the future.

In the letter he sent to Aang, Katara, and Sokka, the Fire Lord had also included the fact that Ty Lee might join them as well. Upon reading this letter, all three friends agreed to attend with curiosity piqued at the somewhat unusual request.

So, when dawn broke over the palace grounds, the group of five had already gathered in a private meeting room.

Sokka yawned and reached for a plump little purple fruit sitting on a plate in the middle of the table. He took an enormous bite and spoke first, "It's been awhile since I've woken up before sunrise. What's the important news?"

Katara looked disapprovingly at the fruit juice dribbling down her brother's chin, "He's right. None of the meetings for the past week and a half have started so early, is everything okay?"

Zuko and Ty Lee exchanged a glance.  _Time to rip off the bandage_. The Fire Lord cleared his throat and announced, "I was informed yesterday morning that my sister has escaped from the mental institution where she was being held."

Three different facial expressions graced three different friends. Ty Lee observed them all, gauging the severity of their reactions. Sokka's eyebrows shot up as he choked down the fruit he was eating, clearly readying for some kind of outburst. Katara crossed her arms with a concerned sort of grimace and glanced at Aang, while the Avatar himself remained quiet and thoughtful.

"Your sister? You mean  _Azula?_  Azula, your sister?" Sokka had apparently finished his fruit.

Zuko had to restrain a slight smirk at the remark, "Yes, that sister."

Before Sokka could interject again, Zuko began telling the group everything he knew about the incident. They already knew that she was a patient with Dr. Liu, so he started at the point where he stopped visiting her. The Fire Lord detailed the circumstances under which his sister was being held and then launched into the chain of events that Dr. Liu had enlightened him with yesterday, leading to the escape. Ty Lee sat next to him, ready to support his story with any piece he might forget. But, to his credit, Zuko did not need her help at all. He even admitted that the orders to cool her cell came directly from him and mentioned the many visits Ty Lee had made to see her.

"Dr. Liu has launched an investigation as to how she was able to escape. But I asked all of you to be here because you are my friends and have had personal experiences dealing with Azula. I trust you to help me make the best decision regarding what to do next." The young Fire Lord rested his hands on the table and felt some of the tension he had been harboring since hearing the news about his sister finally release.

Sokka was again the first to speak when Zuko finished, "So, we obviously have to send out a search party right? The other nations have to be warned that she's on the loose."

"I suppose she could be a threat to civilians and others if provoked," Katara spoke next, although she seemed hesitant of her own statement.

Ty Lee huffed, "She isn't a threat to civilians. Do you all think she's just going to go on some kind of insane murderous rampage at the slightest issue? Whenever we traveled with her, we never harmed innocent people. We never really harmed people at all. We were just tracking you guys."

The Water Tribe siblings shared a sarcastic laugh. "Oh sure, the chi blocking, knife throwing, and hot blue firebending were all just tracking methods." Katara rolled her eyes.

"We were on opposite sides of a  _war_. We couldn't exactly waltz up to you and talk you into handing the Avatar over. Besides," Ty Lee narrowed her eyes at the pair dressed in blue, "you guys fought back too, you know."

"Hey, boomerang and I will always protect our friends."

"Okay, okay." Zuko could see this would not be a particularly helpful tangent to go on. "I think all Ty Lee means is that she doesn't see Azula needlessly attacking people. And I don't either, to be honest."

"Come on, Zuko. She needlessly attacked me during your Agni Kai!"

"That was different! You were her enemy and she—she wasn't well. You saw her, you know that." Zuko bit his cheek as the memory surfaced in his mind. Ty Lee watched him, somewhat surprised he was so staunchly defending his sister.

Katara was careful to phrase her next statement, "I know, Zuko, but… is she any better now? Because what I'm gathering from your story is that she's outside, at full-bending strength, still unstable, and probably angry at you for the cooling treatment. I just wonder if anything has changed since she was admitted."

Zuko frowned at this, uncertain of the answer. Ty Lee was thinking quietly to herself. Azula had made decent strides from her first visit, but had she really  _learned_  anything? She still suffered from occasional hallucinations, one causing a serious accident, and seemed to have the same distrustful and easily irritated mindset. Who knew if the visions would continue outside of the institution? But the acrobat had a nasty feeling they would, because as far as Ty Lee knew, Azula had never really addressed any of the emotional weight dragging her down with Dr. Liu and that was a problem.

Katara watched them debating in difficult silence as her brother fidgeted waiting for a response.

"The pause isn't really reassuring," she said in a gentle tone.

Zuko sighed, "I don't know. That's the truth. I don't know if she's really better or made any progress. I think she's more stable than she was on the day of the comet, but I… I haven't personally seen her in a long time." He looked to Ty Lee.

She was staring at the table in front of them and said out loud what she'd been thinking for quite some time, "I don't think she's better or worse."

Zuko was surprised at that, "What do you mean? You've been telling me she's been getting better for months."

"What I mean is, I think she's the same old Azula as she was before the comet. Yeah, she's not in the middle of some crazy breakdown like she was on that day, and I only saw her totally out of control once on my first visit, so in that sense she's better. But the things she's angry about… It's the same as it was five years ago. She hasn't spoken to Dr. Liu about much and is still suffering on her own. I know she won't lash out and attack anyone now that she's free, but I don't know that it's good for her to be roaming around alone."

Sokka turned to face Zuko, "Well, that's as good a reason as any to start looking for her. Who's gonna do it?"

"Hold on."

The four friends refocused their attention to the youngest man at the table. Aang had remained silent for the entire conversation thus far, listening and watching instead. He had changed remarkably since the end of the war, quite literally turning from a boy into a man. Growing nearly a foot helped speed that transition, but his personality had also matured. The airbender was still a goofy boy at heart, but he'd had to grow up quickly out of necessity. The world needed him to maintain balance, a hard task for anyone, let alone a young man of seventeen years. Or an old man of one hundred and seventeen.

He was well-respected by nearly everyone in each nation and even his close friends could recognize the changes in him. A balanced voice of reason, for personal and international conflicts alike.

"I think we should be cautious. If we send out a search party or squadron of soldiers to track her down, that could cause a bit of panic. We need to keep in mind that Azula didn't escape from prison; she isn't a criminal wanted by the other nations. Remember, at the end of the war, the heads of the nations and grand council members agreed that her admission to the mental institution was a fair way to compensate for her actions during the war. As Ty Lee said, we heard no reports of her hurting innocent civilians or doing anything other than carrying out her mission to capture me. From what I've heard, she didn't go off the rails until that day at the Boiling Rock prison. Even then, her response was to send away nearly all of her closest advisers and officials."

Ty Lee lowered her gaze as she was again confronted with that day's events. Katara leaned forward in her seat to retort, but Aang calmed her with a cool smile, "Yes, I know that she almost killed me, but I'm still here and I'd like to help her. Anyways, some of the meeting's attendees likely wanted a harsher punishment, but the admission to the mental institution is what was discussed and agreed upon after the war."

Here, Aang paused and closed his eyes. After a moment's reflection he continued, "I'm sure the people at the meeting wouldn't be too keen on knowing Azula broke out before the doctor released her, but if we say something, they'll surely put out their own search party. And if we sent one of our own out first, well, we wouldn't be able to keep a search party looking for the Fire Nation princess quiet. I worry this news could spread to other nations, enticing those ill-thinking attendees to hunt her down. I don't think that's what any of us want. If it is as Zuko and Ty Lee say, and Azula truly isn't a risk to others, then I think we should wait a few days. On the off chance that any suspicious news arises, we will begin the search for her immediately. Otherwise, we can keep our ears to the ground and watch for her from a distance. What do you guys think?"

The opinions were split fifty-fifty.

Zuko was quite pleased at this suggestion. He had been worried that all four of his friends would want his sister's immediate capture. And even his gut reaction to hearing the news had been similar. However, he had momentarily forgotten the agreement that was made immediately after the war and was glad the Avatar brought it up. This option seemed to be the best one for keeping Azula safe. Zuko only wished he could know where she was to set his mind more at ease.

Ty Lee felt much the same way as Zuko, happy that Aang seemed to be prioritizing the princess's safety but still worried about her wandering around on her own. The person she was most nervous about hurting Azula, was Azula herself. Ty Lee hoped her words back in the patient care room would prove true.  _"That won't happen. I'm not_ stupid _."_

As for the Water Tribe siblings, Katara was torn. On one hand, she could follow Aang's line of reasoning and saw the merits of his suggestion. On the other… She had witnessed Azula's descent into madness first hand, and was justifiably nervous at the idea of her walking around with no check to her power. But she trusted Ty Lee, as strange as that was to say. Her years spent on Kyoshi Island with Suki were enough to prove that she was a good person that happened to be on the opposite side during the war.

Sokka disagreed completely and still wanted a search party sent out as soon as possible. He was used to Aang's more pacifist ways by now, but Azula was nuts. She should be reeled in to prevent any accidents from happening. Judging by the nods and looks everyone else was shooting to each other across the table, however, he could tell he was outnumbered.

Crossing his arms and sighing he said, "Alright. I see where this is going. But if anything suspicious and having to do with weirdly powerful benders or fire or—or scary women pops up in the news before the end of the week, then we'll start a search."

A chorus of voices responded, "Agreed."

"Okay then, let's get some real breakfast. That fruit didn't cut it."

Sokka's voice trailed down the hallway as he headed towards the dining room that provided more substantial breakfast options each morning for the visitors. Katara and Aang followed behind him, walking arm in arm.

Ty Lee stretched, satisfaction and worry still churning in her stomach.  _I guess this is the best we can do right now._  She turned to leave and head to work for the day, but Zuko stepped in front of her first.

"Ty Lee, I'm sorry."

She looked up at him, confused, "What are you talking about?"

He looked nervous. The young Fire Lord had a sleepless night thinking about how he'd been acting recently. The stress, regrets, and guilt he'd been feeling for the past few months caused him to be less than polite to Ty Lee regarding her concerns about Azula. The trip to see Dr. Liu yesterday was only one indication of that.

"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you. I should have taken you seriously when you told me to go visit Azula, but I wasn't ready to see her yet. You were right. She's my sister and I should have been there for her, even though she's a little… difficult. And I should have been there for you too."

"Oh. Um, thanks, Zuko. That's really nice of you to say." Ty Lee smiled awkwardly. She still harbored a little resentment towards him, but supposed this was a big step in returning their friendship to normalcy. " _Difficult_  is putting it a little lightly though, don't ya think?"

He laughed quietly and rubbed the side of his jaw, "Right again. Well, I better get going to breakfast myself. The meetings will be starting up again soon."

They left together and continued down the hallway. After a few twists and turns, a buzz of sounds emanated from a door propped open on the left-hand side. Zuko waved goodbye, "Keep your eyes open for any "scary women", alright?"

Ty Lee passed by him, heading towards the front entrance, "Sure, I'll be seeing one at the end of the week."

"Huh?"

"Doesn't Mai count?"

She didn't turn to look back as she kept walking, but grinned at Zuko's sharp intake of breath as he stubbed his toe on the doorway. "See you later, Zuko."


End file.
